Jump to content

Fancy a boat?


Théière
 Share

Recommended Posts

Nice story, but well below Sky News' normal standard of accuracy (at least, the standard that it had a few years ago when I was one of the 'taking heads' called upon for ship-related news items [;-)] ).

Quote: "This could leave the UK without a carrier that can be used by British jets for around 10 years". So Ark Royal's sister ships, Invincible and Illustrious, that I often sail past at Portsmouth, are just plywood mockups? Although Invincible is currently mothballed and decommissioned, if Illustrious won't be around for the next 10 years, why has she recently started a refit at Rosyth, to keep her going for at least another four years?

8/10 for sensationalism, 2/10 for fact. The story doesn't even follow Daily Mail practice by refuting itself in paragraph 19, by which time all the readers have moved on to something else. [:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She was modified and reconfigured a few years ago so that she could easily switch from operating fixed wing aircraft to helicopters and vice versa. Since the powers that be decided that the Sea Harrier would become obsolete, the role being taken over by the Harrier GR-9, I think you are correct in so far as most of Illustrious's more recent deployments have been with helicopters. She retains her fixed wing capabilities though. The helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean, is a near sister-ship, having basically the same hull but totally different machinery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...