Saw this and thought it deserved its own thread. I'm no expert on naval matters, but thought it strange they were decommissioning their only carrier before a new one comes into service.
I mean, every homeowner can tell you, you don't junk your old car before you buy a new one. That leaves you without transport.
To: I still care
That’s what allies are for....
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25 years? I would think that is nothing in the way of a life cycle of a Navy ship.
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Sorta like the US putting all of its space shuttles in museums long before any replacement is built or even designed.
4 posted on
03/13/2011 11:55:14 AM PDT by
Truth29
To: I still care
IIRC, it was a Swordfish torpedo biplane from the Ark Royal that disabled the rudders on the Bismarck.
5 posted on
03/13/2011 11:57:04 AM PDT by
Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
To: I still care
This decision was forced on them by their economic circumstances. The way the cost of the F-35 keeps going up they may not get that new carrier at the end of the decade either.
The worst part of this for the Brits will be the long break in continuity for that highly specialized expertise it takes to operate a carrier. So many things will have to be relearned from scratch when and if they deploy another carrier.
7 posted on
03/13/2011 11:59:02 AM PDT by
SeeSharp
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The new ones may never come into service.
8 posted on
03/13/2011 12:00:47 PM PDT by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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Sun sets on the British navy.
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Got to save that money to give homosexuals gender reassignment surgery.
16 posted on
03/13/2011 12:53:47 PM PDT by
Blood of Tyrants
(Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
To: I still care
I saw this and thought "Argh. They are decomissioning the Ark Royal, only to realize that it was the follow-on to the Ark Royal I was familiar with...
My squadron (VA-46) flew some sorties and conducted exercises with the Ark Royal back in the mid-seventies, here is a picture of one of our planes trapping on her deck...
But what I remember most about them was one day, as I was working in the fuel pits at Cecil Field, they had a few of their Buccaneer attack aircraft land to refuel (one of these)
As one of the planes was taxiing by, gray smoke began pouring out from inside the plane somewhere. The plane came to a jerking halt, and the crewmen scrambled out of the plane and ran about thirty yards away and turned to look back at the smoking plane while the rescue crews drove up...there was something oddly funny about that, though I am certain I would have done precisely the same thing in their shoes!
18 posted on
03/13/2011 1:03:09 PM PDT by
rlmorel
(How to relate to Liberals? Take a Conservative, remove all responsibility...logic...)
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The Ark Royal, definitely a piece of history. May she rest in peace.
20 posted on
03/13/2011 1:08:15 PM PDT by
Triton42
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I don’t think I’d sell my pickup before the replacement had been built. What’s different on a national scale?
21 posted on
03/13/2011 1:12:53 PM PDT by
RobinOfKingston
(An election is not a (national) suicide pact.)
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Maybe...maybe...just freeballin' it here, but maybe they wanted to disconnect any history or semblance of what used to be with the new Spirit of the UK...the HMS Mohammhead......
23 posted on
03/13/2011 1:18:29 PM PDT by
Gaffer
To: magslinger
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33 posted on
03/13/2011 2:20:01 PM PDT by
magslinger
(What Would Stephen Decatur Do?)
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Recall the old saying that the tradition of the British Navy was “rum, sodomy and the lash” and who needs a ship?
34 posted on
03/13/2011 2:31:25 PM PDT by
count-your-change
(You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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