HMS Illustrious: Lebanon Op.

HMS Illustrious has been ordered by the MoD to make ready to sail to Lebanon.
Bear in mind that Hizbollah has already damaged one IDF ship and killed four Isralie sailors. And now Israel is accusing Iran of supplying and maybe even firing the missile.
I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like this one could go all the way; all out war between Israel, Iran and Syria. With the possibility that the USA, China and Russia could be drawn in.
And, of course, that means Uncle Sam's Bitch - guess who - will be dargged to the party as well.
Altogether now, "It's the End of The World as we know it..."

 

I'm not happy that we're sending two capital ships into a warzone without any escorts...

 

Happier than the Ships companies i should think!

 

Well just in case guys,may your god bless you all,but i feel Russia and China will not get involved,for everyones sake i hope im right if not BYE.......................

 

Smoke em if you got em

 

where the hell's my passport?......

 

Escorts? What bloody Escorts? :roll:

 

No complaints from this callsign,,I am sure the ships comapnies' are happy to go, after all, that is what most of us join for to see some action and generaly do what we are trained to.
I like the idea that they are going there to "possibly evacuate british nationals", yeah cheers then we believe you. Ever heard of the aeroplane?
Get some!

 

Good luck ladies and gentlemen, show them how it is done.
Just as an aside, did anyone expect crab air to go in? After all, it is a weekend and they might just have to earn their living for once.
:!: :!: :!:

 

Always makes me laugh when I hear the Iranians etc talking about "Wiping Israel of the map." Trust me boys and girls, the LAST thing you want is to utterly defeat Israel. Because if that ever happens, if it looks like Zion is on it's way out, the Israelie's will chose the Samson Option: bring down the temple and take as many of the enemy with them as they can.
Bucket of Instant Sunshine, anyone?

 

there might be more people than the crabs could deal with in one hit....plus helos need less runway

 

Let's be fair, as J650 correctly says, you can evacuate far more people by sea than you can by air. Another question would be who would protect the aircraft whilst they were on the ground? If you stuff it full of troops, there's no room for evacuees!
Also, the RAF's air transport fleet is stretched to the limit anyway providing the air bridges to Iraq and the 'stan. That's why R and R flights are contracted to a civvy firm.
IMHO, the most sensible option operationally has to be an amphibious one. HMS Bulwark has marines to secure a beach head, landing craft and helicopters to ferry evacuees and with the carrier to provide top cover, this has to be the way to do it. By air just wouldn't work.
Lingyai, I note the sarcasm in your tone ref the phrase "the possible evacuation of British nationals". What ulterior motive do you suspect? A British invasion of Lebanon? A forced return of Palestine perhaps?

It makes perfect sense to have your assets on station ready to be used should they be required.

 

Do what????

Lusty has been away since before Easter and was on her way hoime via Gib. I do not share your opinion that they will be happy to go. Having been diverted on the way home my self (to the Adriatic - Invince '99) from my own personal experiance 99.9% will be highly p@@sed off

 

it's official (well, close) it's on the BBC that's what they're going there for....evac, good luck lads and lasses :?

 

An escort does not have to be seen to be there - Long and black & full of Tomahawk???

Oh No - they are all alongside broken again!

 

Good luck to Illustrious and Bulwark. Good luck and God speed to any Naval Landing Parties that may be involved in the evacuation.

 

Speaking as a well-informed member of one of the Ship's Company's who have been told to turn around and go to the Lebanon, I can most definitely say that no-one 'is happy to go' and pretty much everyone is p*ssed off.
After spending 23 weekends at sea, with less than 21 days shore time, and less than 6 days prior to our expected arrival date in Guzz, I think we can be excused for not 'being happy about it'.
Personally I'm being as pragmatic about it as I can be and look at the bigger picture, but yesterday when we were told by the CO I saw grown men and women (but mostly women) crying in the passageways. Many have booked expensive holidays which have now been cancelled and will miss seeing families that they haven't seen since January when we deployed (the Lusty only came out here at Easter and did not venture to the top of the North Arabian Gulf protecting Iraqi oilfields).
Obviously once the emotion has gone we will 'crack on with it' in our own traditional and inimitable manner, and hopefully the less experiences ones on board will not look at this change in plan as a medal-winning opportunity, but realise that this will be a chance to do some good, as the people who we are intending to help are not war-mongering terrorists, but people who are caught in a violently unpredictable country.
And Fishmiester, I would suggest you do some research - we are going to do an NEO (Naval Evacuation Operation), not bomb them. A bit difficult to do when we had already disembarked our embarked forces of 500 Marines and about a third of our crew (advanced leave party, drafters, etc.) on the way home. If you ever had done an operational deployment you would know that that is common practice!

Furthermore I recommend you read the news; Beirut airport, pertol stations and other strategic targets (well, according to the Israelis) have been seriously damaged thus making it difficult to get an aeroplane home! And if they did would you be at Heathrow Airport to offer a refugee the comfort of your spare room? I doubt it.
No-one on board, or in fact no one I have ever served with, 'loves to go to war'. Yes we are trained for it, but by training for it we should be able to recognise the causes of war and use any means to prevent it. A great man once said "war is an extrension of politics, but by other means". I suggest you leave your armchair politics where they belong and leave the job that you so obviously love (to criticise) to those of us actually doing it.

 

There is at least one destroyer already on station, won't name it for OPSEC. I know this as I know a couple of guys who've been sent out to join her already.

 

Thank you SPB,

A damn fine post. Good luck to you and yours.

PTP

 

Good luck lads! Anyone wanna start a book?

Who get's there first, Yanks, Brits, Kate Aide - my monies on the later!