Posted on 08/11/2017 4:42:36 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Royal Navy’s new supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and her battle group met the U.S. Navy’s carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the North Atlantic for an exercise beginning on Aug. 1, 2017.
The 10-day exercise Saxon Warrior 2017 “allows both U.S. and U.K. naval forces a chance to hone our interoperability skills,” said Rear Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander of Bush‘s Carrier Strike Group 2. “Particularly important is the alignment of U.S. carrier strike groups and the U.K. carrier strike group.”
Both navies — and one NATO ally — sent ships and crews to the exercise. But one key component is missing. While Bush deploys with an air wing including helicopters, radar planes, electronic-warfare planes and no fewer than 40 F/A-18 fighters, Queen Elizabeth still doesn’t carry any fixed-wing planes — and won’t do so until late 2018.
Ships participating in Saxon Warrior 2017 include the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the destroyer USS Donald Cook and the Norwegian frigate HNoMS Helge Insgstad, plus the Royal Navy Type 23 frigates Westminster and Iron Duke, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Wave Ruler and the Royal Navy submarine Trenchant. Land-based British helicopters and planes have also joined in.
The war game includes simulated combat and shooting drills with live ammunition. There is reportedly a major anti-submarine component, presumably involving Trenchant hunting one or both carriers while, in turn, the escort vessels hunt the sub.
That Queen Elizabeth is exercising with Bush without an air wing is, in a sense, the point. The Royal Navy is still in the process of reconstituting its carrier aviation capability, having prematurely retired its Harrier jump jets in 2010 and the last of its three light carriers in 2016. Queen Elizabeth launched in July 2017 and should enter active service around 2020. Her sister ship Prince of Wales is scheduled to launch some time in 2017.
The Saxon Warrior exercise could help prepare the Royal Navy’s Naval Strike Wing for embarking F-35B stealth jump jets in late 2018. Bush anchored outside Portsmouth — Queen Elizabeth‘s future home port — in the days preceding the exercise in order to embark 65 British pilots, staff, maintainers and deck crew for training alongside their more-experienced American counterparts.
“This exercise is a great demonstration of the U.K.’s relationship with the United States who are helping us in getting back our carrier strike capability,” said Royal Marines colonel Phil Kelly, the British carrier group’s strike commander.
Queen Elizabeth herself is due to arrive at Portsmouth in early August 2017, having met and exercised with Bush en route.
American supercarriers are simply beautiful. They embody global power and project strength.
The British ship looks like Kanye’s limo.
Wow, the sun really has set on the British empire.
....the way the NYT will report it
Dream Class ships are the largest in the Carnival Cruise Line Fleet. Dream Class ships include the Carnival Dream and Carnival Magic. Ships in this class have a gross tonnage of 130,000 and a length of 1,004 feet, with a cruising speed of 20 knots. They can carry up to 3,652 guests, based on double occupancy.
Interesting that the Queen’s Ferry has two towers....
The ‘Liz’ needs a reactor, another hundred feet+ length, some more beam and catapults. And straighten out that deck. It’s warped.
Some Sea Harriers would help.
It probably has something to do with the UK's social class system and the reasons we left it in 1776.
As a fan of beautiful nautical design, I have never cared much for 20th Century onward British warship design from a aesthetic perspective (with a few exceptions)
I always felt that about Japanese warship designs leading up to and during WWII...with few exceptions (Such as the Yamato class, and specific instances of battleships/cruisers/destroyers) they always appeared somewhat homely to me.
German warships in WWII I found to be beautiful, but too few. I think the Germans built them like Swiss watches.
The Soviets had some butt-ugly vessels, though I thought the Kirov class was gorgeous. They are also making some nice looking vessels today. This opinion parallels their aviation industry...their planes are far better looking these days.
As for American vessels, The Iowa class beats all. Then, I love the Virginia class cruisers...and nearly any cruiser built by the US Navy after 1942 looks beautiful. I didn’t care for the look of the Knox frigates, but liked the look of the Spruance class, and love the Arleigh Burkes! (There is something about them that reminds me of a fast ship of sail...perhaps the rake of the mast...:) The Oliver Hazard Perry’s...eh. Almost all American carriers look boss to me, but some of the newer class of littoral vessels have a good looking one (Freedom class) and a weird one (Independence class) and both are problematic from a performance perspective. The San Antonio Class is just plain ugly. The homeliest of all has to be the Zumwalt class, but I look at those as concept ships, even though there may end up being three of them.
Form doesn’t always follow function, but I believe in the old rule of thumb about planes: If it looks good, it probably flies good!
Sure, they are big, but...so are supertankers!
Those cruise ships displace more than a carrier, but a carrier has far more people onboard, ordinance, planes, armor, etc.
Of course, the cruise ships eat better, have shuffleboard and pools, though we always would tell the newbies on the carrier about the great five lane bowling alley and swimming pool...:)
A ship without its weapons is just a floating hotel with a radio.
Has more to do with eliminating the wind turbulence created by the bridge superstructure and it’s negative affect on landing aircraft. Note that “the Island” on the USS GERALD FORD was moved aft. It’s the most distinguishing difference between the FORD and her cousins in the NIMITZ-class. Different solutions to a common problem.
Royal Caribbean has a couple that are 225,000 tons and carry up to 6300 passengers.
I don’t know, does RC let you sing and dance with the serving staff at dinner? :)
Part of the capacity difference is due to different operating procedures. U.S. carriers park aircraft on the flight deck between air ops, and sometimes even during. The Royal Navy has always stored their aircraft on the hanger deck. That has historically resulted in smaller air wings.
The USN carrier fleet came of age fighting the IJN. We needed every damn airplane we could muster ... old habits die hard. This one shouldn't die at all.
Iron Duke should not be a frigate. The RN should not be assigning dreadnought names to small ships.
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