Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

Iron Duke's bows were shrouded in scaffolding and Tarpaulin so all I could see was the gun barrel sticking out of the front! She will probably have the new mod 1 gun mount by now though. The US cruise of Illustrious is doing a good job of keeping the RN and especially carriers in th public eye, with a definite slant on future ops. The more they can do this the harder it will be for the Government to change course as U turns are what they loathe the most! The Navy is effectively saying "This is the way of the future, like you promised us!" so for the Government do make a radical alteration becomes a broken promise. Governments break promises all the time but don't like to be SEEN to be breaking promises! We shall see...

thanks Obi because when in Portsmouth it always quite interesting to see which of the T23 have got the new mounts because i think when i last looked HMS Coventry still had the old mount and of course the T42 did but none seem to be in port last time and the last one i saw was Liverpool and she looked quite tired

were are the crews[billeting bunks etc] placed in an aircraft carrier i know the RN system of having the officers at the back of the ship in front of the Quarterdeck and the rating towards the center of the ship i was curious on the layout of US,French and Spanish systems bunking 1000+ crew

harryRIEDL said:

were are the crews[billeting bunks etc] placed in an aircraft carrier i know the RN system of having the officers at the back of the ship in front of the Quarterdeck and the rating towards the center of the ship i was curious on the layout of US,French and Spanish systems bunking 1000+ crew

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On an USN CV the enlisted crew berthing is all over the ship. So is officer and chief petty officer. Sound confusing? not really.

Generally speaking however Officer berthing is generally on the 0-3 level amidships and foward just before the bow. There is also officer berthing just below the wardroom on the 2nd deck. There are signs on the ships stating "Officer country..do not enter".

As for enlisted..the aft end of the 2nd & 3rd deck is deciated to enlisted berthing and some shops. Also there is enlisted berthing all the way foward on the second and thrid deck. More enlisted berthing abounds on the aft(stern) of the 03 level. Also under the f'ocle on the 02 & 03 levels...

thanks are the officer quarters placed like that to be close to their action stations

harryRIEDL said:

thanks are the officer quarters placed like that to be close to their action stations

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Probaly, most of the pilots quaters are on the 03 level right under the filght deck and in close proximity to their squadron ready rooms.

Continued from the UK Military news thread...

Hey , Obi Wan looks like the USMC is getting a good taste of the ski ramp ..Maybe just maybe the LHA(R) will have one..Be nice if you drew one up for us or re-post and LHA(R) with a ski Ramp...

USMC Sea Harriers in action on HMS Illustrious

bd popeye said:

Continued from the UK Military news thread...

Hey , Obi Wan looks like the USMC is getting a good taste of the ski ramp ..Maybe just maybe the LHA(R) will have one..Be nice if you drew one up for us or re-post and LHA(R) with a ski Ramp...

USMC Sea Harriers in action on HMS Illustrious

[qimg]http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1548/33126118bu4yo0.jpg[/qimg]

[qimg]http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/9422/33126128db8gd8.jpg[/qimg]

[qimg]http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3434/33126136am8re0.jpg[/qimg]

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Your wish is my command...



Now if only they would 'come out of the closet' and admit it's a medium sized aircraft carrier, which in no way threatens the CVN force but complements it!

Obi Wan Russell said:

Your wish is my command...

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Now if only they would 'come out of the closet' and admit it's a medium sized aircraft carrier, which in no way threatens the CVN force but complements it!

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Thanks Obi Wan for the great drawing...

With no well deck and a much larger hangar the LHA(R) is a medium size CV with excellent capablities. Perhaps as many as 36 F-35B Lightning II the new LHA(R) will suit the needs of the USMC as they will have CV's under their control.

Did you guys know that the R stands for "Replacement"? It is only used in the R & D of the ship.

More pics of the USMC on the RN HMS Illustrious

I you look carefully at the top of the first pic above you can see the DAPS (Deck Approach Projector Sight) just below Illustrious' Flyco. In principle the same as the 'meatball' fresnel lens used on CTOL carriers, it helps the harriers to arrive in the correct position alongside the ship at the correct altitude, before they transition sideways and then land. I'm wondering if the Marines will mark the end of deployment with an unusual launch, along the lines od sending an old car off the ski jump at a high rate of knots! Or perhaps they will mark their newfound love of the ski jump by launching while dressed as Evel Knevel....

But I digress. This deployment opens up more possibilities for the future. If an Invincible is deployed alongside a US Large deck Amphib then the latter vessel can concentrate on carrying and deploying her maximum load of troops and vehicles while the British ship can accomodate the USMC Harrier wing as well as AEW and ASW helos and be free to manouver whilst the amphibs are 'docked down' to launch landing craft/LCACs. This gives more flexibility to such ops as the Harriers don't have to wait for a deck load of troop carrying helos to be launched before they can be scrambled for example. The Sea King ASaC7s have been trialled over land and can be used as Forward Air Controllers to direct strikes as needed, along with Apaches and Cobras depending on the threat response required. Should these ops prove successful, I wonder if we can interest the USN in buying Invincible as a Christmas present for the USMC? One careful owner, Full service history, reasonable discount, electric windows and satnav...

I'd rather see her go to a good home than for razor blades and the USN has bought British before. They took three RFAs over back in the 80s and I think they are still going strong...