Shipbucket

There has been some lively discussion in the media here about the rescue operation to get foreign nationals out of Libya; one route being via HMS Cumberland (Type 22) currently disembarking civilians in Malta before returning for another evacuation. In the light of the scrapping of the Ark Royal (not that long after a major refit) and of course, the Harrier force, there has been some criticism of the British goverment not being able to deploy a larger unit that a frigate - itself earmarked for disposal.

Of course, it doesn't follow that (even if we still had the Ark), she could be in place off the Libyan coast at present; but the shortage of naval units - soon to be further decreased - has raised the question of how handy it would now be to have a floating airfield, what the Queen Elizabeth will be, to project some clout into an area in which the British goverment has vested interests. And this is part of the growing debate, some coming from senior military officers, about the deep cuts being made into the amed forces.

Anyway, our prime minister is currently busy in the area with a sizeable contingent of defence firms as part of an accompanying trade mission.

Yea, Our Frigate Tromp and or LPD(s) Rotterdam and Johan de Witt (?) are gonna be there aswell. Very possible on of your subs is there aswell!

Latest on the Cumberland; and I hadn't realised she was a type III - and the feckin eejits want to sell her off? And she's getting HMS York to assist.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/ ... _1_2449918

Just goes to show how low we have sunk It doesn't seem to matter which bunch of dickheads we have in power none of them seem to realise that an island nation needs a navy.
Oh for the days of gunboat diplomacy.

It's the european sickness! As long as USA increase their MIL budget, the european countries do the opposite Now, the price has to be paid?

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HMS Cumberland is aging though, she is 22 years old now. How long can you maintain a ship these days?

Funnily enough on the BBC Website news the other day the Government seemed to say that a floating airbase wasn't the right tool for this job and that a carrier wouldn't be needed. Now is that media spin to say "oohps we've only one helicopter carrier left but we'll pretend it doesn't matter" or is it saying "we don't need any carriers but we're building two anyway."
That is a point, why have a supercarrier loitering off an enemy port? You don't need a massive carrier loaded up the gunnels with JSFs, you need something that can operate numbers of choppers for a job like that. If Ocean goes we are in even more trouble. Anyway with only haf a dozen surface escorts likely to be left by 2020 the carrier is going to be ill defended and pretty much a laughable fleet unles the government hopes to merge the RN with the French Navy by then!

The second carrier to be mothballed will never be completed or used, the expense of completing her and the time needed makes it useless as a spare ship in a real emergency. I think you'll find she gets sold after completion, I'm sure there are a whole queue of customers for her lining up.

I'll just add the RAF is doing fine work with the Hercules too, but that aircraft is up for disposal too in favour of the untried A400M. "Times they are a-changing."

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the Oslo class frigate became 43 years. but then they had Each week some problem with the engine at the end.

You know your getting old yourself when warships you thought current are now 20+ years in service Listening to the BBC, and nobody really knows what's going on, it seems that the Brits can't risk going in to rescue the oil-field workers because of a lack of any air cover; so yes, a Hercules (or Chinnok) with an SAS detachment would be at great risk. It seems that the only way of getting air cover is.......gues what? Yes, the good old USN with carriers positioned off the coast. And even if the Ark Royal or her sisters were still in service, they had the the wrong kind of Harrier for anti-air operations: the defunct Sea Harriers had long range AAM's, but not the adapted RAF Harrier II's. Of course, the Italian and Spanish navies do have Harrier II's of the US variety, with good radar.

However, all is not lost. Our goverment has revoked diplomatic immunity to Gaddafi and his family, so they will no longer be able to shop at Harrod's

Today the San Giorgio is back from Libia were "collected" several Italians and Foreigns, British (special forces I suppose) rescued persons from an unknown location in the desert, and DD Mimbelli is still in the area...

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Lazer_One


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You guys are perhaps aware that the Cumberland only last year underwent the extensive modernization and reconstruction, which practically amounts to a half-life overhaul. This is the version I've posted in my topic forum, for those interested.

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My Avatar:Петр Алексеевич Безобразов (Petr Alekseevich Bezobrazov), Вице-адмирал , царская ВМФ России(1845-1906) - I sign my drawings as Ari Saarinen