HMS Queen Elizabeth

[PRTVR]

Ayahuasca said:

PRTVR said:

The show is just beginning, on the news they were reporting the comments from the Russians about it being just a very large target , people should remember the fuss when a Russian aircraft carrier passed through the channel, a battle group has a large effect without firing a single weapon , Belize was under threat of attack from Guatemala, the UK launched buccaneer aircraft from an aircraft carrier at extreme range and just by flying noisily above the capital ,the word went round that the carrier group was off the coast, Guatemala pulled back from invading , sometimes size does matter.

But the Guatemalans rattled their sabres again as soon as the carrier left. A transient deterrent at best. It took a permanently (Land) based half-squadron of RAF Harriers to see them off properly.

Agreed,but what it did was buy the time and provided unpredictability of what they might face if they attacked.

[skeeterm5]

One, possibly daft, question for me. Why does she have 2 superstructures? Is one for driving the boat and the other for running the flight deck?

When I look at the other big carriers around the world they all seem to have a single superstructure, what do we know that they don't?

S

[brycheiniog1]

It makes it easier to route the ducting for the gas turbines I believe:

http://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/the-reasons-hms-qu...

Jonathan

[SantaBarbara]

skeeterm5 said:

One, possibly daft, question for me. Why does she have 2 superstructures? Is one for driving the boat and the other for running the flight deck?

When I look at the other big carriers around the world they all seem to have a single superstructure, what do we know that they don't?

S

We had this discussion earlier.

The answer is that they can string their bunting between the two

[donutsina911]

SantaBarbara said:

They say she has not yet been commissioned, so which flags is she flying at the bow and at the stern, and from other places please?

On entry, all I could see was a defaced blue ensign on the back end - apparently known as the Government Service Ensign with a horizontal gold anchor. Alongside, when watching the Merlins head off, neither ensign or jack appeared to be flown, possibly because she was at flying stations for a good 40 min...

Gratuitous st iphone shot of sunrise and ensign this morning near Nab Tower:

[NDA]

How does this carrier compare to the biggest from America in terms of size?

I recall taking to sea a few years ago to see an American carrier parked up in the Solent - it seemed vast.

[SantaBarbara]

donutsina911 said:

On entry, all I could see was a defaced blue ensign on the back end - apparently known as the Government Service Ensign with a horizontal gold anchor. Alongside, when watching the Merlins head off, neither ensign or jack appeared to be flown, possibly because she was at flying stations for a good 40 min...

Gratuitous st iphone shot of sunrise and ensign this morning near Nab Tower:

Thank you for that photo.

Blue ensign works for me
Technically she is owned by the MoD I suppose

[ecsrobin]

NDA said:

How does this carrier compare to the biggest from America in terms of size?

I recall taking to sea a few years ago to see an American carrier parked up in the Solent - it seemed vast.

Y
I was onboard the American carrier in the Solent a few weeks ago it was huge. Apparently the QE is 2/3rds the size

[AshVX220]

ecsrobin said:

NDA said:

How does this carrier compare to the biggest from America in terms of size?

I recall taking to sea a few years ago to see an American carrier parked up in the Solent - it seemed vast.

Y
I was onboard the American carrier in the Solent a few weeks ago it was huge. Apparently the QE is 2/3rds the size

She "met up" with one during her trials;



I particularly like this one;



And this one;

Edited by AshVX220 on Wednesday 16th August 14:17

[AshVX220]

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

[yellowjack]

ecsrobin said:

Y
I was onboard the American carrier in the Solent a few weeks ago it was huge. Apparently the QE is 2/3rds the size

Aye, but two thirds of 'massive' still looks 'massive' when it comes into port!

Strange, as a child of the 1970s, to think that it's larger than the old carriers that were decommissioned back then. By which I mean that the old angled-deck Ark Royal (RO9) looked much larger than the QE does (in photos).

Possibly psychological because RO9 had the angled flight deck and could launch Phantoms, so you sort of presume it's longer to allow flight ops. I suppose that's why the Ark had steam catapults, and traps. To 'compensate' for a shorter deck length.

I remember being taken to see Ark Royal at Plymouth when she came in for the last time.

Looking at a picture of HMS Eagle alongside in Portsmouth, it's clear that there's a far bigger deck area on the new carriers, and they're much broader in the beam than that post-war generation of British carriers...




Numbers from Wiki - so possibly not super accurate, but...

Ark Royal (RO9) - flight deck (as built) 800ft x 112ft and 53,950 tons full load(1978)
QE - 920ft x 240ft (overall length and width) and 70,600 tonnes (77,800 tons)

I wanted to go down this morning to see her come in, but it just couldn't be made to work with other commitments.

[AshVX220]

brycheiniog1 said:

It makes it easier to route the ducting for the gas turbines I believe:

http://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/the-reasons-hms-qu...

Jonathan

It also evolved from the air side wanting to have their own ATC type environment, caused a lot of extra work with us running various interoperability trials to make sure we could make it work.

[Trevatanus]

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

I'm sure I've heard 8 weeks mentioned.

[SantaBarbara]

skeeterm5 said:

One, possibly daft, question for me. Why does she have 2 superstructures? Is one for driving the boat and the other for running the flight deck?

When I look at the other big carriers around the world they all seem to have a single superstructure, what do we know that they don't?

S

They can string a clothes drying line between the two to save money on tumble dryers

[ou sont les biscuits]

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

Yes, they go from Gunwharf now. They are on the side of the marina furthest away from the Spinnaker Tower. Near where Carluccio's is, in front of the pond with the toy boats.

[Catweazle]

ou sont les biscuits said:

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

Yes, they go from Gunwharf now. They are on the side of the marina furthest away from the Spinnaker Tower. Near where Carluccio's is, in front of the pond with the toy boats.

Watch out chaps, I think we've got a Froggy spy in the camp.

[ou sont les biscuits]

Catweazle said:

ou sont les biscuits said:

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

Yes, they go from Gunwharf now. They are on the side of the marina furthest away from the Spinnaker Tower. Near where Carluccio's is, in front of the pond with the toy boats.

Watch out chaps, I think we've got a Froggy spy in the camp.

Listen carefully, I shall say this only wance. I'm a Scot

I keep my boat in Gosport though.

[Catweazle]

ou sont les biscuits said:

Catweazle said:

ou sont les biscuits said:

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

Yes, they go from Gunwharf now. They are on the side of the marina furthest away from the Spinnaker Tower. Near where Carluccio's is, in front of the pond with the toy boats.

Watch out chaps, I think we've got a Froggy spy in the camp.

Listen carefully, I shall say this only wance. I'm a Scot

I keep my boat in Gosport though.

Shouldn't your username be Hoots Mon, weirs tha shortbread?

[AshVX220]

Catweazle said:

ou sont les biscuits said:

Catweazle said:

ou sont les biscuits said:

AshVX220 said:

TheLimla said:

So how long will Big Lizzie be in Portsmouth for and wheres the best place now to get a view?

From the harbour you can get little tourist boats (fanny boats we used to call them), that do tours of the naval base, they used to leave from near the Gosport Ferry (on the Pompey side), may now leave from Gunwharf.

Yes, they go from Gunwharf now. They are on the side of the marina furthest away from the Spinnaker Tower. Near where Carluccio's is, in front of the pond with the toy boats.

Watch out chaps, I think we've got a Froggy spy in the camp.

Listen carefully, I shall say this only wance. I'm a Scot

I keep my boat in Gosport though.

Shouldn't your username be Hoots Mon, weirs tha shortbread?

[Cobnapint]

Unless this thing is absolutely bristling with phalanx and missiles, the Russians may be right. It is just a great big target.

OK, it may have a battlegroup with it, but I doubt it'll get the level of protection the US carriers get, we just haven't got the vessels have we....?