What a plan!
[QUOTE=Old RN;9880823]The best (?) example of the use of land based a/c vs. carriers was after UDI in Rhodesia in late 1965. As any good navy the RN proposed a plan (which it started to implement) to move the East of Suez based carrier towards Beira while offloading all aircrew with Rhodesia or South African conections. The plan was to get a carrier and comando force off Beira, to estsblish air superiority over eastern Rhodesia, land the comando by helo on a small airfield, start flying in troops. With a firm base in Rhodesia then take control of Salisbury and end UDI in weeks. Given the very limited state of the Rhodesian military at this point it was very credible.
So it's true; rum rots the brain! If that plan had been tried the resulting debacle would have been so bad that the Brit Govt would have offered a deal to Rhodesia that might have saved us all from Mugabe. Two million Zimbabweans might still be alive as a result.
That silver lining does not make it a viable Plan though. First problem, what would the Portuguese Goverment's reaction have been?