End of an era
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 5,197
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HMS Illustrious decommisioned today.
BBC News - Portsmouth-based HMS Illustrious retires from Navy
32 years service during which she sailed 900,000 miles on ops across the globe.
Did anyone here serve in Lusty?
Any dits?
BBC News - Portsmouth-based HMS Illustrious retires from Navy
32 years service during which she sailed 900,000 miles on ops across the globe.
Did anyone here serve in Lusty?
Any dits?
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: New York City
Posts: 820
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The 22,000-tonne ship will eventually be replaced by HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales
With all the time it's taking King Charles III could be on the throne before HMS Queen Elizabeth is fully operational.
Was great to see her coming in, her flight deck full of Sea Harriers.
Oh sorry, I forgot.
Never mind, it'll be great to see Queen Elizabeth going on her maiden voyage, her flight deck full of F35s.
Oh sorry, I forgot again
Oh sorry, I forgot.
Never mind, it'll be great to see Queen Elizabeth going on her maiden voyage, her flight deck full of F35s.
Oh sorry, I forgot again
"Illustrious is a big ship - there are going to be a limited number of ports and cities that will have the infrastructure that will be able to support her."
Eagle, Ark Royal, Victorious - they were big. But Illustrious....??
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: London
Posts: 2,916
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Was great to see her coming in, her flight deck full of Sea Harriers.
Oh sorry, I forgot.
Oh sorry, I forgot.
North Sea 28 June - 2 July 09
Pilots from IV Sqn RAF
Harriers from Naval Strike Wing
Midnight in the North Sea
(Some distortion - pic taken from Lynx.)
HMS Illustrious and 4 Squadron RAF are both Affiliated Units of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots
Tudor Owen
Last edited by Flying Lawyer; 29th Aug 2014 at 06:34.
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Sussex By The Sea
Age: 79
Posts: 264
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Who would want to buy her and have to keep her in UK with doubtless lists of expensive stipulations, requirements and caveats - I know, let HMG keep her and turn her into a prison ship to replace Weare and keep her in Portland Harbour.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 1,057
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Why no dock her alongside HMS Belfast and have her as a tourist attraction and as a floating heliport ??
That would put her in the helilanes after all....................
A thought - is HMS Belfast actually afloat - does she rise and fall with the tides ? or is she just full of concrete and sits on the bottom ?? (Went to London the other day and good to see her looking very smart in her new paint)
Arc
That would put her in the helilanes after all....................
A thought - is HMS Belfast actually afloat - does she rise and fall with the tides ? or is she just full of concrete and sits on the bottom ?? (Went to London the other day and good to see her looking very smart in her new paint)
Arc
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Tennessee - Smoky Mountains
Age: 55
Posts: 1,602
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Not a bad idea. Replacing BELFAST with ILLUSTRIOUS might inject some interest in that area. "OK, let's go to London for the weekend. What shall we do? Go on Belfast? No, we've done that already...".
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Temporarily missing from the Joe Louis Arena
Posts: 2,131
Received 27 Likes
on
16 Posts
Not a bad idea. Replacing BELFAST with ILLUSTRIOUS might inject some interest in that area. "OK, let's go to London for the weekend. What shall we do? Go on Belfast? No, we've done that already...".
Actual WW2 ship with 'guns' and stuff or a fairly modern collection of predominately empty hangar spaces and a strip of flat top bent at one end?
If she could be filled with representative of each aircraft types from her service career then it might be a little more interesting but just how many aircraft is that?
Whilst 'learned' individuals might enjoy exploring her (though how much could realistically be kept in bounds on a ship her size?) I sadly can't imagine her having the same 'Boy's Own Stories' draw as HMS Belfast.
I was not the only one to note the lack of a paying off pennant then! Cutbacks!
I always thought that the MOD’s desire to keep her intact and in UK hands seemed odd – they have not shown any desire to preserve ships from other classes that also have thousands of former crew such as a Type 42 or Type 22. Additionally the UK does not have a good record of preserving warships as museums – sadly including ship from World War Two.
On a more practical note, where will her flight deck party go? The number of RN/RFA ships than can operate multiple helicopters is very low so where do they go? How do we give people the experience of a busy flight deck or operating multiple aircraft from a ship? Preparing people for a busy flight deck is a very important part of preparing for CVF.
How will we do any thing like Exercise Deep Blue – surely it would be better to continue conducting major ASW exercises with a large number of helicopters? A few months ago MOD announced that to prevent a loss of skills in between the Sea King Asacs7 and Crowsnest, a small number of Sea Kings would remain in service post 2016 – but what will they fly from? Flight deck and hangar space seems to be at a premium.
I always thought that the MOD’s desire to keep her intact and in UK hands seemed odd – they have not shown any desire to preserve ships from other classes that also have thousands of former crew such as a Type 42 or Type 22. Additionally the UK does not have a good record of preserving warships as museums – sadly including ship from World War Two.
On a more practical note, where will her flight deck party go? The number of RN/RFA ships than can operate multiple helicopters is very low so where do they go? How do we give people the experience of a busy flight deck or operating multiple aircraft from a ship? Preparing people for a busy flight deck is a very important part of preparing for CVF.
How will we do any thing like Exercise Deep Blue – surely it would be better to continue conducting major ASW exercises with a large number of helicopters? A few months ago MOD announced that to prevent a loss of skills in between the Sea King Asacs7 and Crowsnest, a small number of Sea Kings would remain in service post 2016 – but what will they fly from? Flight deck and hangar space seems to be at a premium.
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: England
Posts: 924
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I served on her.
In the post Falklands War period. Cold War full on. Joined in Portsmouth then straight into Autumn Train (think that was it) followed by her first major refit in Portsmouth, then BOST at Portland. States trip (Philadelphia and Norfolk), a massive cold war exercise ending up in the Arctic, some decent runs around Europe. Then another mini refit, Global trip cut down by the famous gearbox explosion and fire, then repair (amazing tribute to Pompey dockies, stokers and British ship repair), Far East, Auz and home for leave and draft. 30 months and the happiest time of my very young life.
A different time or age and a different world with a different Navy, really.
A small, dedicated professional team. Suppose a lot are dead now, or old and faded.
Wonder what the top speed was of the ship? I always thought it an incredibly fast vessel.
But she is now of the past and its time, as ever, to keep moving on.
Dits wise (some people on here saw this also, or were involved and can explain better than me), I saw (or heard over broadcast of course) SHAR FRS1 crash up in Scotland, an 849 NAS SK ditch (lack of fuel) in the Atlantic, witnessed the stbd oleo collapse on a recovering 820 NAS Sea King (mid Atlantic in the middle of the night on 1 spot) which damn nearly could have decapitated me, but didn't, thanks to the reaction + skill of the young pilot - all was well in the end (RIP that great young guy), and also another SHAR launch off the ramp and snap its stbd outrigger clean off as it hit the net.
All fantastic stuff for a young lad to see, or be involved with, back in the mid 1980's.
A different time or age and a different world with a different Navy, really.
A small, dedicated professional team. Suppose a lot are dead now, or old and faded.
Wonder what the top speed was of the ship? I always thought it an incredibly fast vessel.
But she is now of the past and its time, as ever, to keep moving on.
Dits wise (some people on here saw this also, or were involved and can explain better than me), I saw (or heard over broadcast of course) SHAR FRS1 crash up in Scotland, an 849 NAS SK ditch (lack of fuel) in the Atlantic, witnessed the stbd oleo collapse on a recovering 820 NAS Sea King (mid Atlantic in the middle of the night on 1 spot) which damn nearly could have decapitated me, but didn't, thanks to the reaction + skill of the young pilot - all was well in the end (RIP that great young guy), and also another SHAR launch off the ramp and snap its stbd outrigger clean off as it hit the net.
All fantastic stuff for a young lad to see, or be involved with, back in the mid 1980's.
Last edited by Hangarshuffle; 29th Aug 2014 at 22:03.
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: England
Posts: 924
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Teams.
The Flight Deck Party and their skills will slowly fade away, and will have to be re-learnt again slowly by new young people, the slow hard way.
Don't think a lot of people on here twig on to what a difficult thing it is to do, to coordinate and run up a carrier, escorts, suppliers and its Air Group, fully and to the standard the country took for granted.
I certainly know that the politicians don't know.
Invincible had, what 14 or 15 FA2 and GR7 + helicopter support and that was hard work for a highly experienced air team to handle, in the Spring of 1999, from the NAG to the Kosova thing? All of that era of hands on operators (worth their weight) are nearly all gone, God bless them.
And that's before we even get on to the bridge teams, ops room teams.
Don't think a lot of people on here twig on to what a difficult thing it is to do, to coordinate and run up a carrier, escorts, suppliers and its Air Group, fully and to the standard the country took for granted.
I certainly know that the politicians don't know.
Invincible had, what 14 or 15 FA2 and GR7 + helicopter support and that was hard work for a highly experienced air team to handle, in the Spring of 1999, from the NAG to the Kosova thing? All of that era of hands on operators (worth their weight) are nearly all gone, God bless them.
And that's before we even get on to the bridge teams, ops room teams.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Some pics from the good old days .....
North Sea 28 June - 2 July 09
Pilots from IV Sqn RAF
Harriers from Naval Strike Wing
Midnight in the North Sea
(Some distortion - pic taken from Lynx.)
Tudor Owen
North Sea 28 June - 2 July 09
Pilots from IV Sqn RAF
Harriers from Naval Strike Wing
Midnight in the North Sea
(Some distortion - pic taken from Lynx.)
HMS Illustrious and 4 Squadron RAF are both Affiliated Units of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots
Tudor Owen
