Originally Posted by Hangarshuffle
...what's wrong with the Albion's ghost crew coming into the mix? i.e. operate two crews on the one platform...
Maintain two crews to keep one ship at sea, virtually doubling the payroll? Much too costly.
I imagine HMS Albion's "ghost crew" comprises a couple of dozen ship-keepers mostly unsuited for sea service or any other 'active duty'. Even fewer of them, if any, would fulfil the necessary criteria (rank, specialisation, currency, medical fitness, liability for sea service, etc.) required to occupy a complement billet in the seagoing Bulwark. Moreover, even if the additional manpower were available, receiving an entire ship's company on board a 'dead ship' in return, let alone trying to provide it with gainful employment, would likely prove embarrassing. Finally, who would look after Albion during the disruptive six-weekly handover periods you suggest implementing on board the operational ship?
If Albion replaces Bulwark as fleet flagship in 2017 as planned, her ship's company will be built up and trained over a lengthy period as qualified personnel become available from various sources including Bulwark. The manpower does not exist to sustain both ships at sea simultaneously as operational units.
What will it take to convince you that there is a vast and irreconcilable difference between a publicly funded military service like the 100% core workforce Royal Navy operating at or below its critical mass and the "hire 'em, fire 'em" offshore industry with a highly paid core workforce of less than 40% and a relatively inexhaustible pool of temporary manpower from which to draw?