HMS Ark Royal - under tow.

[parabellum]

The tug Christos 23 has been entrusted with the tow.

A few questions from a non-mariner please:


Will the Ark Royal have a towing crew on board? (some auxiliary power?).

Do they man the helm throughout the tow? (see above).

Is the rudder welded straight fore and aft? (if no crew).

If only one tug does that suggest the Ark may have limited power for steering?

If only a single tow can they delay for bad weather, (Bay of Biscay), can the Ark still drop and retrieve an anchor?

Is it single tow only for the 'cruise' sector and multiple tugs for leaving and entering an anchorage?

Any more info from our mariners appreciated, or a reference.

[Not_a_boffin]

No.

No

No - mechanically locked..

No.

Yes. No.

Yes.

[Navaleye]

Took the words out of my mouth. Long time no speak NaB. She's a dead ship/hulk. The entire transit is down to the skill of the tug master.

[parabellum]

Thanks. Must be quite a handful in heavy seas?

[Herod]

I recall being part of a formation (loose gaggle) of three Wessex en-route to Ballykelly, when we spotted one of the old carriers being towed up the Irish Sea to be broken up. Since one of the Wessex crew was a naval exchange officer, the leader thought it would be a good idea to fly across the bows as a salute. Note: across the bows, below the level of the flight deck - it was being TOWED). As the formation broke into three aircraft taking evasive action, the R/T went:

"Trust the bl**dy Navy to put a wire strike hazard in the middle of the sea"

"Trust the bl**dy Air Force to find it."

Happy daze.

[Not_a_boffin]

Arrived @ Leyals today. Expect she'll be gone by Trafalgar Night.

[Navaleye]

I expect Leyal are measuring the carpet ion Illustrious as we speak.

[Not_a_boffin]

It's all depressingly quiet on the preserve Illustrious front. The only way I could see it happening would be for the RN to cede SRJ in Portsmouth to the heritage Dockyard or more outlandishly to dredge the South Wall in the same area.

It might be possible as part of the overall QEC infrastructure works for the base as a whole, but would need someone to have the funds to buy the ship and a costed business plan to run it as part of the heritage museum.

It simply will not work anywhere else in the country. You couldn't get far enough upstream on the Thames to make it a mainstream tourist attraction and nowhere else would have sufficient "mass" of tourists to get enough revenue to keep her in a satisfactory material condition.

[t43562]

3D scanning

I know you all might think this a very poor idea but she should at least be laser scanned and recorded. This is being done for all sorts of historical monuments so that if they are damaged then there is some fairly accurate record.

I can't see why it shouldn't be done for ships etc. It's not as if absolutely everything can be preserved forever but it can live on in something better than photos.

[Blue Bottle]

She's there :(

Britain's most famous warship docks for the last time: Team of 80 workers prepare to spend eight months stripping the Ark Royal down for use in razor blades and tin cans | Mail Online