Melchett01/thunderbird7
This thread is about HMS
Ocean. You do realise there is a
Future Carrier thread?
Post Falklands, throughout the tail end of the Cold War the Royal Navy's activities, both in and outside the NATO area, were frequently based on carrier centred task groups. Not only did the CVS provide the capability for long range ASW, but also air defence and long range attack. Then in 1990/1991 US carriers played a huge role in fighting Saddam Hussein.
In the 90s, RN carriers were very busy, mostly in the Adriatic but also the Gulf. The origins of the QEC lie in the need to replace the aging and sized limited CVS, with a recognition that the next generation of jet (which the UK was also going to participate in), would be considerably larger than Sea Harrier or Harrier GR7/9.
The studies started in the early/mid nineties..... The CVS continued to be busy throughout that decade and into the next.
Frostchamber
I am not an expert on Phalanx, so no worries. You might be interested in this 2005 paper regarding research and development work into what would be DS30M Mk2:
Royal Navy Small Calibre Gun Research to Defeat the Small Boat Threat
You can also Google it and download the PDF. Additionally remember the role of helicopters - all naval helicopters can be armed with GPMG/.50 cal, and Wildcat will have Martlet specifically for small craft threats.
Back to HMS
Ocean.
Ocean has had a busy life.
From Forces TV:
1995
HMS
Ocean was launched on 11 October, and was subsequently named at Barrow by Her Majesty the Queen in 1998.
1999
She was sent to the Mediterranean in readiness for possible involvement in the Kosovo conflict.
2000
Supporting Operation
Palliser in Sierra Leone, HMS
Ocean aided the suppression of rebel activity.
2003 - Iraq
Ocean was deployed for Operation Telic, the UK contribution to the 2003 Iraq War, for which she was awarded the battle honour "Al Faw 2003".She set sail from Plymouth on January 16, carrying 300 Royal Marines and 400 air crew (sic).
Ocean was a platform for 22 helicopters and her 200 Royal Navy medical staff treated casualties from both sides of the conflict.
2010
British citizens stranded in continental Europe by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano were ferried across the Channel by HMS
Ocean.
2011 - Libya
HMS
Ocean is sent to aid NATO operations concerning the Libyan conflict.
This was the first time that Apache helicopters had been sent into action from a Royal Navy ship.
Apache crews from 656 Squadron Army Air Corps carried out effective missions inside Libya, hitting military vehicles, installations and communications equipment.
Ocean spent four months operating off Libya, spending 87 days at sea.
2012
Mooring at Greenwich, she provided logistics support, accommodation and a helicopter landing site during the London Olympic Games.
2015
Ocean became the Royal Navy Fleet Flagship, taking over from HMS
Bulwark.
2016
HMS
Ocean assumed command of the maritime counter-Daesh effort.
In 2011 and 2016/17 she was doing roles that might normally be given to a carrier. They seem to have missed a few - the 2001 exercise in Oman, her 2002 deployment to the Middle East in support of fighting the Taliban/Al Qeada, various amphibious exercises such as the
Vela deployment to West Africa in 2006, the 2009 Taurus deployment to the Far East, and lots of NATO amphibious deployments in recent years, and a few ASW ones.
In the last few years, following her last refit, she has been worked extremely hard, as shown by
her news stories on the RN website.