(3rd May 2001)
Major Warships Out of Action
Reports in today's Daily Mail and Sun have suggested that nearly all the Royal Navy's major warships are out of action. Of the three Invincible Class carriers HMS Ark Royal (R07) is currently completing an extensive £100 million refit at Rosyth, HMS Invincible (R05) is defueled and her aircraft are in storage as she prepares to commence a similar refit, while the current flagship, HMS Illustrious (R06), is undergoing maintenance at Portsmouth. Meanwhile, at Devonport, amphibious helicopter carrier HMS Ocean (L11) is undergoing routine maintenance. The Royal Navy's other key amphibious asset, assault ship HMS Fearless (L10), is completing repairs at Portsmouth after an engine room fire earlier this year.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has argued back, dismissing the claims as "nonsense" and claiming HMS Illustrious is fully operational and the scaffolding currently in place can be removed within a "matter of hours".
This news however is the latest in a series of embarrassing operational problems experienced by the fleet in the past few years. Last October all twelve Swiftsure and Trafalgar Class submarines were withdrawn from service following the discovery of cracking in the reactor coolant pipes of HMS Tireless and only HMS Triumph has since returned to operational service. In April the same year over forty of the Fleet Air Arm's Lynx helicopters were grounded due to technical concerns.