On December 7, the British supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth officially joined the Royal Navy at a naval base in Portsmouth. Recently, the carrier completed the second stage of her sea trials in the English Channel. According to the British military, she will carry out the first of a series of helicopter trials early next year. The carrier is set to sail for the United States in the third quarter of 2018 for further sea trials.
Photos by the Royal Navy (source):
All this ship can effectively do when it has its compliment of aircraft in a few years time , is intimidate weak nations without missiles and the means to deliver them.
What a total waste of money that is badly needed elsewhere in the UK where circa 25% of the population are now reported to have incomes below the Poverty Line. Add to this the huge annual cost of keeping this fake behemoth in service and it is an insult to humanity.
I tend to agree with you here. As a carrier operates within a naval squadron, this will take a very large part of their navel budget.
For a regional power a bit over the top.
We really must stop agreeing Dutch. Its getting embarrassing :) Happy Christmas to you.
This guy is making sensible comments lately…
Its as if Dutch has an alter ego as his English Language skills also vary :)
Yes, I want to know why !!.
“All this ship can effectively do when it has its compliment of aircraft in a few years time , is intimidate weak nations without missiles and the means to deliver them”
That’s almost the whole point of having aircraft carriers and “Power Projection”.
With the added disfunctionality for the UK of not having any significant naval infantry component, as opposed to the US.
That is indeed a fact but a rather degrading one for Britain in my opinion. The world is always moving on in ways that always surprise those in power who are shackled by vested interests.
Isn’t this ship slated for the superb F-35 ‘aircraft’?
Excuse me, the F-35B, thank you.
The F-35B is a wonderful plane if its not raining, the pilot doesn’t collapse of lack of oxygen and it is not fighting a fighter younger than 30 years old, oh yes and it doesn’t fall apart.
F-35 lost panel from fuselage over Okinawa this past week. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2017/12/kadena-based-f-35a-loses-panel-during-training-flight-near-okinawa/amp/
It is like a 200 million pound Ikea plane that doesn’t work. But it does make me laugh…..
Hummingbird collision?
You haven’t heard of Royal Marines?
yes, i did. I said they lack “significant” naval infantry, not they don’t have it. Royal marines aren’t even comparable to the USMC in capabilities, role and numbers.
I don’t exactly know the force composition, but it could probably fit over a single ship.
Oh, joy, another totally useless floating target !!
I don’t get why they put so many hard angles and flat surfaces on the thing. Are they planning to use it as a tow boat?
A container carrier to ply the China /UK route with goods in and scrap metal out :)
35 f35s purchase price = $3300,000,000, scrap value =3500 tons @£135/ton(frag feed) =£472500 of scrap metal
The scrap price for US F35’s would in fact be a better deal than the massive costs for the future ownership of the flying Turkey’s :) Even with the current UK scrap price of circa £ 55/tonne .
But of course now, the scrap value is assuming that there is no galvanic corrosion.
Indeed and there will also be the carbon fibre contamination to consider as well :)
Well That makes the galvanic corrosion even more intriguing. It is illogical.
The F35 concept designed by committees with differing needs is also illogical . But then much today in the USA defies logic and owes more to fantasy.
Yes, it appears to have been built on hull of container vessel–perhaps for easy re-conversion if Royal Navy comes to its senses and realizes their folly. The only type of ship worth investing in at this point are submarines. Any country with GNP greater than US$ 1 billion can purchase the cruise missiles that have rendered aircraft carriers obsolete.
It doesn’t look all that super.
I am British but “the British supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth” …. it is an aircraft carrier without aircraft …. it is joke at the moment and after it gets the fantastic crap of the F-35B, it will be a hilarious joke.
you are dirty jihadist, not british! btw, this is helicopter carrier.
Do you see that ramp on the ship Solomon? Helicopters don’t need ramps Solomon.
PS. If you continue to use that dirty mouth on my friends, I’m going to pour pepper in your mouth Solomon. Bad boy! Naughty boy!
today is helcopter carrier. tomorrow can be aircraft carrier
That’s what Al said, isn’t it? It’s an aircraft carrier without aircrafts to carry, so they put a couple of helicopters on it’s deck. Dedicated helicopter carriers are different in shape. Frankly I don’t know why they put that ramp on it, if they plan to use VTOL aircrafts in the future. The ramp makes a good area of deck unusable.
A giant floating lemon to carry the future flying lemon.
The whole soap regarding these two carriers is an example as to what happens when a country wants to play in the carrier big league, but does not want to spend the extra money for it. Something’s gotta give to pay for these floating lemons. And the Royal Navy had to sacrifice a LOT to make them happen.
A SUPER waste of good money, how about maintaining a descent destroyer and frigate force. Will it’s first voyage be to the Falkland Islands?
One of weirdest looking ships I’ve ever seen. Looks like something Monty Python might have designed.
What is the idea of two superstructures? something to do with Radar, split task forces or defensive imaging?