Invincible ...

Story in the Pompey Liar today

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/east-hampshire/sad_end_for_the_carrier_that_is_no_longer_invincible_1_2775768

Okay, its a sad end to a great ship and all that. Many flat-top, carrier queens are wearing their armbands with pride and yearning for the days of stacks of room, sunbathing and lording it over their lesser breteren, holed up on shitty 42s and the like.

Then we get the blow-by-blow account of it being chopped up, misty-eyed veterans saying it's disgraceful ... et-fricking-al ...

Like Muxworthy, for example. The navy's very own rent-a-quote, ready on the end of the phone to denounce anything that smacks of drawing in of resources, paring down to a minimum and changing the mob we all loved so much (that in 1985, the PVR rate was once at a peak of 35%, so much so they even sent a two-and-a-half and a Warrant round to find out what was up)

Muxworthy should really keep up with curent issues. The country is still f*cked, despite every effort to gloss over the malaise and misery. This government, although a billion miles from perfect, was left with a bag of shit from the last, who, remember this boys and girls, once presided over some staggering growth statistics (if we ignore what they kept off the balance sheets and allowed me and you to run up over a trillion bucks of personal debt with massive house price hikes, instant, ridiculous credit and bonuses a go-go) We were all rolling in it once upon a ten years ago. Now we are skint. And Muxworthy says that a good refit would sort the Vince out. Yeah mate. Despite the fact that it would possibly cost a third of a billion to put her on the blocks, survey her, upgrade her, re-engine her, fix the rot, provide the safety case, certify her hull and structure, put eight hundred matelots back on her (which we haven't got), fill her with fuel and (largely expensive, obsolescent) stores, stand up a support project team, provision her and then put her through sea trials to make her fleet-ready. Yeah, Mux. Just a good refit, eh?

Anyone got a third of a billion? Oh, and another few hundred million to fund the flight, jets, ammunition and christ knows what else to get a year's worth of joy from a carrier that burns enough fuel to run your car for a year in just ten minutes. Do we need one off Libya right now? What difference would it make, for starters? Sure, we can sit off there and launch Harriers at Gadaffi and his *********. Seems that we aren't exactly ripping up trees sending the better armed jets in from Italy, let alone our own from a flat top. What would we do with it if we weren't at war with anyone? They are there to provide leverage in times of conflict. What leverage does an expensive asset provide when it needs refuelling and reprovisioning every few days?

I'm tired of all this 'oh noes! they aer killin' ower nayvee' horseshit. They are killing our navy, they have been for years. Had Galtieri not invaded you'd have been able to fit our navy into two basin in Pompey by now and Weston Mill would be waterfront luxury. Time we all sniffed the coffee, methinks. The only time the government will pay attention is when they are in desperate need, and looking at the current climate, that won't be this year, or next, or for a long time. We can't afford to keep yesterday's obsolete (and frankly laughably crap) ships and now have to rely on the newer (no less laughably crap) versions to keep the company viable. Twerps like Muxworthy need to consider who they are speaking for here and it seems to be large sections of the ex-fraternity who would be glad to waste billions on keeping a vintage stock of unusable, unmannable vessels which are unsupportable and unfightable in this century.

Sorry troops, but that's the way it is down on the waterfront.

levers

 

That's a speech that would go down well with a glass of Port, well said Levers, but no one seems to want to believe it, especially not the fat faced Union leaders.

 

Levers
One of the most sensible and spot-on posts I've read here in many a month as a lurker.

Problem with well-meaning commentators like Cdr Muxworthy, Tim Collins, Bob Stewart etc is that by definition their experience is dated, sometimes laughably so. Doesn't matter how high a rank someone makes, when they leave (with their pension that'd finance a small African nation!!) that's when their "currency" begins to expire. No matter what they read in the papers, or get told by their still-serving mate Jonty over a malt or two, their say becomes that of any other interested party. Speculation and opinion.

In some cases, by offering politically or otherwise motivated spin & bulls**t (Phoenix Think Tank, anyone....?) they do the RN more harm than good.

Just my tuppence-worth, like........

 

i agree lets bin the navy, do we really need ships anymore? sure the fantastic RAF can provide all means and method of protecting this country??? or was that the lie that was banded about in the 50's, 60's and 70's....????

we need to sit down and redesign our navy for the world of the future

 

I liked that levers.

 

The Invince was a shit ship with so many built in mistakes, (especially in my POS), it should have gone ages ago. But at least they learnt with the Ark and they should have kewpt at least that one till these new jobs come online...(with no fixed wing on them maybe)???

 

No other industrialised country that was battered by the global recession which as we all know started off in the USA has chosen to decimate its Armed Forces to save money, just our bunch of clowns.

 

"No other industrialised country that was battered by the global recession which as we all know started off in the USA has chosen to decimate its Armed Forces to save money, just our bunch of clowns."

Actually a fairly quick look at the US shows that they are currently programming approximately $400Bn in defence cuts over the next few years to make economic savings. The French, Germans, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegians, Italians and Portugese have all made major cuts in recent years (and thats just the examples I could think off).

We've seen major defence cuts across Europe and the US, and its only going to get worse. The UK is not alone in this respect.

 

Wow, it could almost look as though Labour actually did **** up our economy and it wasn't purely the "global financial crisis" which they had absolutely nothing to do with. Funny that.

 

The lack of control over the banks by New Labour and their predecessors was also a major contributory factor, tossers one and all. I would not employ any of those ********* to polish the brightwork in the forw'd heads.