"Airshow washed out" and not fit for SAR are two entirely different things.
Airshows require 1000s of feet for a half decent show.
Speaking for myself, I have only once ever diverted from Culdrose, and that was fixed wing. Even the Hawks diverted that day
"I also think you might find not many of your RN standards would agree that looking down through cloud at the lights is within the spirit of 'required visual references'"
I think they would be unhappy about the "high on the glidepath" option hence the smiley, but would be perfectly happy with the required visual references, because those are the rules in black and white. They don't say "clear below the cloudbase", they very clearly state "required visual references" and then say what they are in great detail. They are written like that for a reason.
To be fair, I may be/am a bit of a gash operator, but at least I know my basic rules and weather limits, unlike some on here talking about it not being possible to legally recover a helicopter by precision approach in red.....
Bismark
There
is an ILS like I said before
771 just don't use it, and DLCF etc are not just there for the SAR by any means. ATC may be different, but are not required for launch anyway.