In memory of one of the last great british warriors

I forgot to mention the incredible waste and indecisiveness that occurs at the MoD.:mad:

In fairness the current government does not take money of the armed forces, it just expects them to do far more than it can with what it already gives.

In real terms the MoD budget has increased under Labour (admittedly by a fraction of a percent) But it is expected to fund far more with it, such as Iraq and Afghanistan along side multiple large procurement projects.

I do see your point though and I agree with you.;)

Its getting to the point now when we can barely afford to run 2 carriers.

I am fortunate here, as the Government has consistently been increasing the Defence budget since 1999, however not everyone is as fortunate.

The issue is that the ‘do more with less’ mantra has been taken to stupid extremes in the UK, who have deployments all over the world and are supporting two shooting wars.

The RN would take one look at Hermes and her crewing requirements and quickly consign her to the scrap heap.

The running costs are a killer, but the manpower requirements are insane for a Western Navy in the 21st century.

I would expect that when CVF makes its debut next decade, it will end up with a lower crew requirement than Hermes had when she was last in RN service.

Besides, in an era when the RN is offloading almost new Type 23’s for a song, why would they ever want her back.

Unicorn

Doesn’t matter now doubt the RN could afford to run her now with the amount of money the goverment keeps taking of them.

In fairness the current government does not take money of the armed forces, it just expects them to do far more than it can with what it already gives.

In real terms the MoD budget has increased under Labour (admittedly by a fraction of a percent) But it is expected to fund far more with it, such as Iraq and Afghanistan along side multiple large procurement projects.

I do see your point though and I agree with you.;)

Not yet. Invincible is still in reserve, not scrapped.

Doesn’t matter now doubt the RN could afford to run her now with the amount of money the goverment keeps taking of them.

God Bless the Hermes i still find it ironic she has outlasted H.M.S Invinceible a ship that was her replacement!!

Not yet. Invincible is still in reserve, not scrapped.

God Bless the Hermes i still find it ironic she has outlasted H.M.S Invinceible a ship that was her replacement!!

BTW here is a link were you can find several hundred of these drawings, the majority by MConrads and Mihoshik. Some are from me – I like the “never wheres” because here you can guess how a ship would have looked like.
In the sections “Things that help drawing” there are dozens of radars, guns and aircraft that help drawing 😉
http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k279/shipbucket/?
Enjoy

shiplover

I am planning to do further drawings but perhaps you can imagine that it needs many hours. I have a job and a family and it will last several weeks until the next drawing of the port side will be ready. I do about half an hour to one hour of drawing each day. For this kind of drawing you need patience, good fotos and time. The first two I have more then the last one. During the next week I will probably finish the starboard side as she looked 1966 to 1970 – so be patient and don’t give up the hope. When I have finished these drawings I probably know the exterior of Hermes more then some who served on her 😉 But that’s fun.

Perhaps others like to join MConrads and Mihoshiks drawing club. It is really relaxing. After some minutes of drawing I start to look for every detail in dozens of pictures and that helps to forget the daily “noise” of the job or other things that might circulate in ones brain. Perhaps that’s why others start playing computer games 😉 For those not so obsessed with certain real ships: it is even more fun to draw “Never weres”.

Regards shiplover

To ShipLover:

If is not pushing too much, would you be able to post other views of HMS Hermes?

I mean “aerial” view and port profile view?

thanks in advance
Ayala
Lisbon, Portugal

Great pictures shiplover.

Love collecting these works of art.

Unicorn

Probably should happen – probably won’t happen

Like so much else in British History…:mad:

I too would love to see the old warrior survive the ages, but fact is, that these are worth a lot of money being scrapped and cost heaps more in preservation. The old Minas Gerias didn’t survive the scrappers and she was a WWII vessel that served three navies.

The British don’t want them back clogging up the very restricted water ways around their little island. India would rather the money for scrapping it (remember, during it’s time in India, it’s not been in a war like Vikrant was, thus there is no reason there to keep it in memory).

To counter my rather somber note though, I have had this discussion previously. Viraat would make a rather nice tourist addition to somewhere like Goa. Have one carrier on one coats and the other on the other coast. From what I hear there is a huge line up already for tours aboard it should this happen.

Hermes

Hi Shiplover
I couldnt draw a bucket of water out of a well ,but I sure do enjoy looking at the drawings that yourself and MConrads post on this Forum .Keep up the good work
Regards
Tiddles