Well not the name I was expecting but I like the thinking of the choice. Choosing a man who served the RN and RAN is within the spirit of this sale.

From reading other forums, this was not the intended name for the ship. This came down from PM&C after his death.

And no disrespect to Claude Choules, but i’m not real sure about the name. This gentlemen’s claim to fame is that he was the last living serviceman from WW1, not that he did anything particularly spectacular while serving. In effect he’s being honored for outliving all his contemporaries.

Has it sunk yet?

j/k

The lead class of the Qing Class SSB is ready to set sail.

Looks more like something you’d expect to see flying the Hammer and Sickle in the 1970’s or 80’s rather then a product of the 21st century.

Hi Stryker

You miss the point, the ship mentioned is POW when SDSR and Dr Fox say it will be QE. Thus QE must be completed first and have done contractors trials ect and NOT be fitted with cats and traps and POW with cats and traps, launched and through contractor and acceptance by 2020!

That was always the plan I thought…:confused:

CVNs being nuclear powered means that their top speed is also their cruising speed. Aren’t you the one comparing the CVF’s max speed to the CVNs cruising speed then? At around 20 knots cruising speed, isn’t the CVF around10 knots short of the cruising speed of the CVN?

Err, no. The cruise speed of a CVN is the cruising speed of its slowest escort or support ship.

IOC for a carrier assumes a fully functioning air group. We’ll have to work up both a carrier, after over 40 years without cat & trap, & a carrier air group consisting of an entirely new type. That’ll take quite a long time. QE should be afloat & fully equipped about 2017.

I’m assuming she’ll be afloat sometime in the next 12-24 months, followed by up to a couple of years fitting out dockside then possibly another couple of years of first of class trials. Before IOC is reached they will also have to develop and write all the operations manuals for CATOBAR operations for the class.

While they will be able to borrow some from the USN and possibly some from the RN Archives, a lot of skills will need to be relearnt, and the QE class are very different from the current USN CVN’s. Plus, QE (or PoW) will be only the second vessel in the world fitted with either EMALs or EMCAT.

Examples of Previous Carrier class leaders
HMS Illustrious (in wartime)
– Lay down to launch: 2 years
– Launch to Commissioning: 1 year

HMS Invincible (in peacetime)
– Lay down to Launch: 4 years
– Launch to commission: 3 years

Mistral is less capable then even a QE with only rotary winged aircraft.

Also, 30 Rafale would probably easily cost more then a QE class carrier even without the ‘help’ of a Mistral.

I don’t think you should read anything into the ski-jump being retained, the cost of removing it would probably have been quite sizeable for a zero gain in capability.

Fairly sure the ski jump is superstructure on the Invincible class. If it is, then a couple of guys with oxy-torches to cut it away and a crane for removal is all it would take.