DEBATE: It is great news that the Royal Navy is poised to again deploy fixed wing aircraft from a modern and capable aircraft carrier. However, how will the arrival of the new carriers affect current and future naval operations? A Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is the modern successor to the Carrier Battle Group (CVBG) of the post WWII era. Generally one would expect a carrier to have its own assigned air defence destroyers, ASW frigates (note the plurals) and possibly an SSN in ‘deep field’ along with logistic support. The Royal Navy will, next year, take acceptance of HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH. How will the RN deploy a CSG from its very limited resources and what impact will such a deployment have on the rest of the Royal Navy and its tasks? Today it is severely stretched to meet current tasking - RFAs and OPVs have already taken on roles previously carried out by frigates and destroyers. 19 destroyers and frigates we know, tran
HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND CONDEMNS HMS PRESIDENT 1918 TO THE SCRAP YARD
HMS President Preservation Trust, the charity that owns HMS President 1918 (“The President”), London's last remaining World War One ship, and one of only three left has been refused Lottery funding of £330,000 to secure its future.
During WW1 The President was a secret German U Boat Submarine hunter (a 'Q ship') shadowing the Atlantic convoys with concealed guns. In WW2 She was used to protect St Paul's Cathedral from the Luftwaffe and as a base for the French Resistance.
The President had to be moved from its 92 year mooring at London's Victoria Embankment in February 2016 to storage at Chatham Docks in Kent awaiting refurbishment of its hull and a new mooring in Central London due to the major Thames Tideway Tunnel sewer Project. The City of London Corporation have in principle given their support to a new mooring for the President adjacent to London Bridge on th
