Please correct me if I’m wrong but an aircraft carrier by itself is of very little military value;
It all depends on what is defined as 'military value'
An aircraft carrier will have a state of the art Command and Control suite, it will carry officers from the Army who will offer specialist knowledge within their area of expertise. It will or should carry a detachment of Royal Marines, plus of course it has its own Royal Navy sailors who in times of need will wear MANY uniforms.
The exploits of one carrier in one commission.
Spain shut off fresh water supplies to Gibraltar and that island had problems with its water supply. The carrier docked, produced water for the island plus its engineers help fixed the island's equipment.
An ocean liner caught fire hundreds of miles out to sea, that very same carrier was one of the first ships to offer assistance. The medical staff worked around the clock to carry out numerous operations and first aid, plus sadly those passengers that died were interned in suitable locations.
Then on to Aden to embark more Royal Marines to offer assistance to an island whose army had mutinied against its British officers (yes helicopters were used to land the Royal Marines but no fast jet activity)
An aircraft carrier is a huge projection of military might whose deterrent value should never be underestimated.
The sailors of the carrier will help sort out the distillation plant on Gibraltar, they helped rescue the survivors from that blazing cruise ship., offered medical attention to the injured and sadly recovered the dead. They also went ashore in Tanganyika not just to help quell that mutiny but also to repair damaged buildings to help patrol the streets whilst there was still unrest.
Were these examples 'one offs'? I very much doubt it as there will always be calls to the British Government for help, assistance or aid and this is quite simply what the Royal Navy does.... Week in, week out, no fuss, no medals, no recognition and no publicity.
To highlight this here is another example:
Whilst serving on a very small destroyer at the request of the Secretary of State for the Colonies we were diverted to the Seychelles where law and order had completely broken down and 'jolly jack' was once more expected to put on a different uniform and not just restore law and order, but get the island back onto an even keel.
A Navy electrician might be fixing a fuse one day, quelling a riot the next and then the following day be in a local school playing with children who cannot speak a word of English. an aircraft carrier will offer far, far more expertise plus of course equipment. Our destroyer had NO doctor and very limited medical supplies, but that did not stop us from dealing with a host of ailments whilst we were ashore on that beautiful island.
I always end up asking myself if the RAF really understand what the Royal Navy does when deployed overseas. I have given a few examples of my own personal experiences but we are also ambassadors, we go to foreign ports where we show those countries the very best of what our country has to offer and the carrier again will always lead the way in that regard. A modern carrier with state of the art aircraft will shout louder than mere words
I guess I had now better take cover and prepare for the 'incoming'
