Aircraft carriers

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

I must admit that these are splendid machines even though they kill. I suspect that these are the largest machines we have ever made, at least mobile ones. But, I am puzzled.

America is building a new class of carrier, known as the Gerald B. Ford class. Why name them after him? He was never elected to anything and only got his jobs after Agnew and Nixon departed in disgrace. Seemed a nice sort of bloke but hardly the icon after which you would name the biggest warships in the world. Me, I'd have gone for the Disney class with names like 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Cinderella' and the like.

Here in Britain, we are building 2 new carriers which come into service in the mid 2010's. Why? We last used them, for the purpose for which they were built back in 1982 in the Falklands and have no forseeable use for them.

Worse still, there are doubts that we shall enough money to fund the aircraft to fly from them.

And finally, what is going to protect them? Carriers fight in 'carrier battle groups' or I think today, they are called 'carrier strike groups' Either way, they are just floating airfields and need a whole armada of surface ships and submarines to protect them. It has ever been thus.

Our surface fleet diminishes almost daily so you do wonder if anything will be left by 2015. Still those nice flat decks would be fine for maypole dancing.

Better we spent the money on frigates.