asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
i also cant believe there will be no more "Big E"
Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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Equation
Lieutenant General
Only temporarily for the short moment, until the next couple CVN is built. Someone once said, "there is always will be an Enterprise".
Developments!
At last an answer to all the (crustacean sourced) doom mongering about sky rocketting cost for the CVFs and their CATOBAR conversion; The USN has had enough of this and put thier feet down firmly! (why couldn't the RN do this?) It also reveals how the CVFs fit into the USN's broader plans for the future, as they are clearly expecting the RN to shoulder more of the burden within NATO as the USN shifts it's focus to the Pacific theatre. The USN has lost an Air Wing recently to the cut backs and the gap between Enterprise's exit and Ford's arrival will cause a degree of disruption in the finely tuned deployment cycles, which in the long run the CVFs will help fill. I expect in the longer term the US will lean on HMG to commission Both CVFs as CATOBAR carriers too.
Well they lost it in an administrative sense, even though the sqns were retained.
"So what I said was true... from a certain point of view..."
...Jedi-speak.
ahhh ...you are indeed wise...also Jedi speak.
I had missed the Telegraph article, otherwise I would already had brought it up. It is truly daft. The USN has no interest in RN carriers that cannot handle F-35C so it convinces the UK government to abandon F-35B, possibly expecting they can kill off the -B version as a way to save some money on the project without damaging their own interests. Some people in the RN bureaucracy think this will cost too much and come with an estimate that is slightly excessive ( GBP 2b !) to support their own position. We now see The Daily Telegraph take the USN words as gospel truth, even while the positions and estimates on both sides are wholly unreliable.
To build your warships to provide for accommodation you are yourself not allowed to enter is of course a betrayal of national sovereignty. The whole of this matter is politics so perhaps I should refrain from commenting, but I think we can agree that this is an astonishing project.
Betrayal of National Sovreignty... where will it end? Next the US will be taking over RAF bases on British soil and basing whole fighter and bomber sqns there and treating them like US soil. Next there'll be US secret radar installations in the UK, USN SSBNs based in scotland, and they may even start building air bases on UK overseas territories like, I don't know, say Ascencion Island and perhaps Diego Garcia?
...Oh thats right. Already done that. Reserving a few cabins on a CVF seems small beer in comparison. And it's not like in return we don't have military personnel based in the Pentagon. Oh right, we do...
I'd rather have the US backing our carriers than our own Government attempting unilateral disarmament to save loose change they later give to our enemies (sorry 'international aid'). They are also a lot more open about costs and if they say 'this is the price, and we'll cover the risks in development' I'm inclined to believe them.
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Yesterday was an anniversary of sorts for me. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of me arriving aboard the USS John F Kennedy CVA-67. She was anchored out in Rhodes Greece. We hadda take a liberty launch out to the ship. It looked so massive. Impressive. Awesome. But what's more awesome is actually serving..especially in retrospect..
That day started early for me. I flew in a C-130 from Rota SP to Naples Italy. Then on to Sigonella Italy. Next and last stop Rhodes Greece. We had started out at about 6:30am by the time we got to Rhodes it was about 2100 or so. we took a harrowing bus ride in a Mercedes Benz bus down to fleet landing. Like I stated we had to take a liberty launch out to the JFK. The ship looked so massive. She was all lit up. Impressive..most impressive...my boot camp arse was wondering how I would ever find my way around the ship. The liberty launch tied up at deck house 4..on the fantail. I wrestled my gear to the afterbrow and reported aboard. We were taken through the Jet shop into the hangar. The hangar deck was empty. All the aircraft were neatly spotted on the flight deck. All of us ships company non-rates were assigned immediately to mess cook division aka S-2M. Since it was Friday night we did not have to check in until Monday. That was the very liberal 1972 USN.
The USS John F Kennedy CVA-67 was my favorite ship.
Man...To be able to walk those decks just one more time...just one more time. I'd love to see that cold gray old girl just one more time...smell those shipboard smells..eat chow..tell sea stories...
I loved that ship..Memories of days long past.
Shipmates;
Skyboy, Slick, Monk, Rebel Smith, TG, Willie "O". Chief Chrome Dome, Bozo, Butch, Bullet Bob.& Lightin'..and all the rest..
Liberty call..."Kennedy expects to anchor at fleet anchorage Palma de Mallorica Spain at time 0900..Liberty will commence in accordance with the Plan of the day".
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Mayport, Palma, Barcelona, Malaga, Athens, Cannes ,Rota, Izmir, Rhodes, Genoa , Naples, Gaeta, Livrino...
Work..
The word was passed:
"Now muster the Charlie working Party abreast deck edge elevator #2 with Thomas CS2."
Ammo onload/off load, unreps, vertreps, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie working party....Flight quaters...and field day...
You knew we ordies were working when the word was passed;
"The smoking lamp is out from frames 68 to 88..165 to 195 second deck and below while handling ammunition."
Call me a sentimental old fool..I don't care..I love that ship.
It was my first..
Yep.. I was stationed aboard the USS John F Kennedy CVA-67..AM & G Divisions...Homeported at Naval Operating Base Norfolk VA.
I wuz a very young man then and I wuz in 'da real NAVY!....
Big Daddy Popeye USN/retired
JFK sailor from 24 March 1972 till until I meet Jesus.....
That day started early for me. I flew in a C-130 from Rota SP to Naples Italy. Then on to Sigonella Italy. Next and last stop Rhodes Greece. We had started out at about 6:30am by the time we got to Rhodes it was about 2100 or so. we took a harrowing bus ride in a Mercedes Benz bus down to fleet landing. Like I stated we had to take a liberty launch out to the JFK. The ship looked so massive. She was all lit up. Impressive..most impressive...my boot camp arse was wondering how I would ever find my way around the ship. The liberty launch tied up at deck house 4..on the fantail. I wrestled my gear to the afterbrow and reported aboard. We were taken through the Jet shop into the hangar. The hangar deck was empty. All the aircraft were neatly spotted on the flight deck. All of us ships company non-rates were assigned immediately to mess cook division aka S-2M. Since it was Friday night we did not have to check in until Monday. That was the very liberal 1972 USN.
The USS John F Kennedy CVA-67 was my favorite ship.
Man...To be able to walk those decks just one more time...just one more time. I'd love to see that cold gray old girl just one more time...smell those shipboard smells..eat chow..tell sea stories...
I loved that ship..Memories of days long past.
Shipmates;
Skyboy, Slick, Monk, Rebel Smith, TG, Willie "O". Chief Chrome Dome, Bozo, Butch, Bullet Bob.& Lightin'..and all the rest..
Liberty call..."Kennedy expects to anchor at fleet anchorage Palma de Mallorica Spain at time 0900..Liberty will commence in accordance with the Plan of the day".
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Mayport, Palma, Barcelona, Malaga, Athens, Cannes ,Rota, Izmir, Rhodes, Genoa , Naples, Gaeta, Livrino...
Work..
The word was passed:
"Now muster the Charlie working Party abreast deck edge elevator #2 with Thomas CS2."
Ammo onload/off load, unreps, vertreps, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie working party....Flight quaters...and field day...
You knew we ordies were working when the word was passed;
"The smoking lamp is out from frames 68 to 88..165 to 195 second deck and below while handling ammunition."
Call me a sentimental old fool..I don't care..I love that ship.
It was my first..
Yep.. I was stationed aboard the USS John F Kennedy CVA-67..AM & G Divisions...Homeported at Naval Operating Base Norfolk VA.
I wuz a very young man then and I wuz in 'da real NAVY!....
Big Daddy Popeye USN/retired
JFK sailor from 24 March 1972 till until I meet Jesus.....
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