British Military Pictures & Videos

Thanks for those. A sad day for the UK and a foolish decision we shall all come to regret. I grew up in a town about twenty miles south of Newcastle in the seventies and eighties and remember the local tv news carrying stories on the Ark Royal whilst she was under construction at Swan Hunter's yard. She was truly a matter of pride for the region prior to her completion, after which she became a national treasure along with her two older sisters. Recent statements from the RN themselves suggest they are looking at keeping her in reserve for a few years at least, and one hopes she can be retained as long as possible.

Still, with Ark withdrawn, we are down to three flat tops, Illustrious, Ocean and Argus. Hopefullt they will be enough to keep a cadre of deck crew trained, whilst the FAA's pilots are kept in practice with the USN for the next few years ready for the Queen Elizabeths. I'm already hearing the first suggestions that HMS Prince of Wales should be renamed Ark Royal. I'm all for it, expecially as she will carry the pennent number R09:nana:

I'm already hearing the first suggestions that HMS Prince of Wales should be renamed Ark Royal. I'm all for it, expecially as she will carry the pennent number R09

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Humm..Interesting.. Did you know that CVN-78(Ford) was going to be CVN-21 but the USN decided to keep numbering the ships sequentially.

A few Ark Royal videos for you gents!



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Did you gents know that the IN carrier has been delayed ..again???


Link, Defence Aerospace:

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The induction of the aircraft carrier Gorshkov/Vikramaditya has been delayed due to requirement of additional works and change in the scope of trials.

The additional works will increase the service life of the aircraft carrier significantly. The delivery of the aircraft carrier has been rescheduled for December 2012.

The procurement of modern weapon systems is undertaken as per the approved requirements of the Armed Forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed, from various indigenous as well as foreign sources, including Russia, in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure.


This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Shyamal Chakraborty in Rajya Sabha today.

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If only the RN had been allowed to build the CVA01.....

Hey I did not write the captions below. I got these photos at mp.net.

HMS Ark Royal was off Florida at the time of Belize emergency of 1972. Although still over 2.600 miles away, the ship launched two Buccaneer fighter-bombers for a demonstration flight. This proved sufficient to deter a possible Guatemalan invasion. Once again, fixed-wing aircraft carriers proved their value as force of military deterrence. (Photo: FAA Museum)

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HMS Ark Royal R09 1955 - 1978 (RIP) A real Aircraft carrier and not the Dinky toy of today.

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HMS Ark Royal R09 1955 - 1978 (RIP) A real Aircraft carrier and not the Dinky toy of today.

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HMS ARK ROYAL GETTING UP SPEED.

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Blackburn Buccaneer (sexiest British bomber after TSR2 imo), 809 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.

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Then, Commander His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales arrived. The official reason for the visit of Prince Charles was to gain practical experience of fixed wing carrier operations from HMS ARK ROYAL. The Prince arrived in a Buccaneer of 809 Squadron, piloted by the Commander Officer, Lieutenant Commander Tony Morton, and the recovery at 1145 was carefully observed by the knowledgeable goofers.

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The long 70 mile journey inland took up all the remaining daylight hours and the ship finally berthed about 1900A at Hamburg. Hamburg, and what can be said about our first foreign port of call this deployment? Probably the aspect foremost in all our memories will be the awful wet weather that we had during our few days’ stay, and by contrast the splendid hospitality extended to us by the citizen of The Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

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Ark Royal and the Mayflower replica sailing ship.



HMS Ark Royal R-09 seen in 1970.

Malta 5-12 November 1977. During the early hours of the 5th we were off the northwest tip of the Maltese group of islands and we entered Grand Harbour in Procedure Alpha at about 1000A. Witnessing our entry was Flag Officer Malta, with the President of the Republic of Malta, the British and Australian High Commissioners, and the Italian, German and French Ambassadors. With the aid of tugs the ship was ceremoniously backed in the Kalkara Creek and secured between two buoys.

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If Vikramaditya is delayed to december 2012, then that sounds like just a few months later than planned, so not a serious setback. Viraat (ex Hermes) seems to be capable of soldiering on fo some time yet so the IN can afford to wait and make sure the new carrier is truly ready for service rather than rushing to meet arbitrary deadlines.

Interesting historical point re all ships named Ark Royal, apart from the third ship they all stated life under other names or purposes. The first vessel, flagship of the RN at the time of the Armada in 1588 began life as a private vessel named for her owner, Sir Walter Raleigh, as the Ark Raleigh, she was sold to the crown (in part payment of debts incurred by Raleigh, so no actual money changed hands). She went on to serve for nearly fifty years (1587-1636).
The second ship was a tramp steamer under construction in Blyth in 1913 and was purchased for conversion to a seaplane carrier. No name had been allocated to her when she was intended for mercantile service, but she was still in the frames on the slipway when acquired. She actually changed names later in her career when in 1934 she became HMS Pegasus in order to free up the name Ark Royal for the next vessel to bear the name.
The third ship to bear the name was the only one to date to be projected, ordered and commissioned under the name Ark Royal, though she had the shortest career (1938-1941).
The fourth vessel is usually claimed to have been projected as HMS Irresistible, though as the order was placed more than 18 months after the previous Ark Royal had been sunk there is no reason the name could not be reused. The Fifth Ark Royal was ordered in december 1978 as HMS Indomitable, though within days this was officially changed to Ark Royal in order to placate public disquiet about the withdrawal of the fourth Ark Royal that month. One wonders if history will repeat itself in this regard...

I was under the impression the the CVN-21 label referred to the project being 'CVN for the 21st Century', before the novelty of referring to things as being 21st century wore off! And anyway, wouldn't painting a big number 21 on the deck of the new carrier caused confusion with the Aussies? They might start thinking the Melbourne had been rebuilt, 'Bigger, Stronger, Faster!' The $6 Billion Carrier! (and the rest... inflation and all!)

Obi wan.. I can't find anywhere that CVN-78 was to be orginally CVN-21. As stated by Obi Wan CVN-21 is the program for a 21st century carrier..

CVN-21 Program. CVN-21 (also called CVN-78) is the next planned aircraft carrier after CVN-77. CVN-21 simply means aircraft carrier for the 21st Century. In August 2004 DOD began describing the CVN-21 program as a 3-ship program encompassing CVN-21 and two similar follow-on ships (CVN-79 and CVN-80) to be procured in later years. On August 19, 2004, DOD reported that the estimated development cost for the 3-ship program had increased by $728 million, to $4.33 billion. DOD estimates that the 3-ship program would have a total acquisition cost of about $36.1 billion ($4.33 billion for development and $31.75 billion for procurement), or an average of about $12 billion per ship.

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bd popeye said:

Obi wan.. I can't find anywhere that CVN-78 was to be orginally CVN-21. As stated by Obi Wan CVN-21 is the program for a 21st century carrier..

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12 B per ship? yikes! that's more the the defence budget of MOST countries and more than the total GNP of many others! At least with the new flat-tops the operating cost is slightly lower than the nimitz class (hopefully)

^^ and that's just a guess..I wonder what the final cost shall be?

Here's a first glimpse of the new CATOBAR Queen Elizabeth class with F-35Cs on deck, though I have to say I'm not keen on the deck markings, we should go with the British broken red stripe centreline, it looks a lot smarter!

Note the reshaped forward end of the angled deck and the port forward CIWS Sponson, moved back to it's original position now.

Nice pic, Obi Wan. Can't wait until she's launched!

Indeed, looks really good.
So will QE get steam cats now or is there anyting to the rumor of EMALS?
And since the provisions for CATOBAR were already introduced in the planning phase I guess there won't be any further changes to the hull imparting volume or so?