Posted
on December 08
Bill
Etheridge MEP, UKIP Defence Spokesman, has revealed his disappointment in the
lack of thought put into the scrapping of HMS Illustrious.
“Lusty” as she was known to her crew is en route to a Turkish scrapyard,
where she will be broken up for scrap like her elder sister HMS Invincible
before her. The light aircraft carrier, which served in the aftermath of the
Falklands War, was sold for a derisory £2 million despite efforts to preserve
her as a hotel of floating museum. It also leaves the UK without an aircraft
carrier for some time. Its replacement, HMS Queen Elizabeth II is not due to
carry out sea trials until the New Year and HMS Prince of Wales is still in
construction. Aircraft for the vessels are expected to begin trials in
2018.
Mr Etheridge said “It seems rather poor planning that we scrap this
famous carrier when its replacements are not yet complete. It is yet another
example of successive governments not caring about our naval
power.
