Ark Royal under tow

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paul.norton

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The Ark is being towed by CHRISTOS XXIII to be scrapped in Turkey.

At about 10.00 Sunday they are about 30 miles off Oporto but heading 027 degrees. Yesterday, they did a large 360 degree turn off Northern Portugal. (marinetraffic.com)

Anyone know if there are problems?

Paul
 
Strange. Might it be weather related? Unlikely, since the wind off Portugal appears to be ~18 knots from the north.
It appears the tug headed "north" for quite some time today, at least 7 hours, but "as we speak" she is now southbound once again.
Maybe the tow rope snapped and they didn't notice for a while! :p
 
Went eastwards through the Straits of Gibraltar this morning - now appears to have turned round and heading westwards!!!

Paul
 
It may be that there are gale force westerlies in the eastern straits and Alboran and the tug driver doesn't want an ex carrier up his arris!

We got into Ceuta an hour ago, 35 knots in the middle, 3 reefs, pwt but no sign of a tug. Forecast to ease later but may again be difficult further east tomorrow. I wish them good luck, we are gonna tr y and beat up to Tarifa, a plan that may well be foiled!
 
Well the Sea Harriers were disposed of under Labour and it was blatantly obvious the MOD was going to be hit very hard post SDSR and Ark was the obvious target. It's worth remembering that she was 25 years old and despite a recent expensive refit she was actually in a bit of a state materially. It was always the better idea to keep Illustrious.
The Harriers themselves weren't even the 'property' of the FAA, they were only allowed to use them at the whim of the RAF (although technically they were 'shared').
The RAF brass hats were given the option of reductions in Tornado/Eurofighter numbers or ditching the Harriers, naturally they chose the latter for two reasons:

1. The RAF still think we're fighting the Cold War and losing Tornados/Eurofighters would hamper their ability to shoot down Soviet MiG's over the North German plain.

2. Because of the shared nature of the Harrier, this was a fantastic opportunity to kick the Fleet Air Arm where it hurts and possibly precipitate it's demise, which is of course a long term goal of the boys in light blue. RAF thinking tends to work along the lines that carriers are a complete waste of time and that they themselves can do everything from their land bases...

It's worth remembering that cutting Typhoon numbers by about half a dozen would have ensured the financial survival of Harriers onboard Illustrious.
 
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jrc,

I agree with all you say, this has been the situation ever since the inception of the FAA !

Of course the later Harrier GR5/7/9's were ' Joint Force Harrier ' but the Sea Harrier FA2's were FAA, and in their time renowned as the best Naval Aircraft in at least Europe, with the Blue Vixen radar and AMRAAM missile.

I happened to nail the cameras on for the first European AMRAAM release.

As the radar was later developed at Dunsfold by ex- Navy guys with the scanners pointing out over the grass I sometimes watch ' Top Gear ' and wonder if Jeremy Clarkson knows what was the purpose of the semi-circular windows he peers out of...
 
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