But worrying. Wasn't even a top story on the TV news, which amazes me when I think about it. So to recap;
1. A small, practically unarmed RN ship (normally used for surveying duty), has to be diverted to Libya to evacuate UK persons trapped by fighting. (Which it does).
2. Was it backed up by other, harder UK weaponry?
3. Was UK air power available?
4. What if things had gone badly wrong?
These sort of evacuations are best left to civilian commercial operators, who quietly get the job done with no fuss - and charge the commercial companies (mostly from the very wealthy oil & gas sectors) who put their people into these positions appropriate commercial rates to exfiltrate them.
When the MOD reacts to tabloid pressure with their heroic
PR-releases blazing that "brave troops are facing bullets to risk stranded British ex-patriots etc etc blah blah" this distorts the commercial reality of commercial competition in politically risky markets.
Responsible companies put in place stringent evacuation procedures for their personnel - and then execute them at considerable cost when necessary. They are then commercially penalised by the MOD that comes in and bravely "rescues" personnel from useless irresponsible outfits that should not be even operating in the region because they do not put in place evacuation procedures and rely on the FCO and MOD to get them out of trouble.
A further consequence is that the RAF ends up taking away work from commercial operators who want the evacuation work.
So, in summary, your insinuation that the RN should not be going in to Libya without RAF top-cover is pretty hilarious really. The RN should not be sending in the ship in the first place - it is just an MOD publicity stunt.
For the moment, all evacuations should be at the cost of the employer and their insurers, and should be paid to the AOC holders who are still prepared to operate into the region. That should only change when no AOC operators are prepared to go - which is not the case at the moment.