Garry asked if there was 'much' of the Falklands fleet in existance.. not if there was any of if in existance, hence my reply no.
Invincible is 'still around' as you put it but sitting in 3 Basin having bits pulled off her to keep the other two going while awaiting her fate is just about as close as it gets to not being there :sad: A handful of the batch1 42's are still in commission but are due to go soon.
Difficult to say why the US seem to hang on to some of their ships for longer than we do though this doesn't apply to all types. An example given elsewhere in the thread refered to one of their carriers and it has to be remembered that the US still operate fixed wing aircraft.. something we do not.. not in the traditional sense anyway so there's less need for us to hang onto the 'big'.. old carriers. Don't forget that the RN ordered nice big carriers to replace Ark, Eagle, Victorious e t c but the government of the day put an end to that little exercise :roll: Originally, the Invincible Class were called 'Through Deck Cruisers'.. this because those holding the purse strings wouldn't 'stretch' to a full-blown aircraft carrier.. a cruiser sounded smaller and cheaper and thus more acceptable :huf: Even further back.. the Counties.. Devonshire, Hampshire e t c. These were light cruisers but again.. no one would sanction us spending money on cruisers so they were reclassified Destroyers. Just compare the size of a County Class DLG to all previous Destroyers!!!!!
Whichever way you look at it.. this country is more likely to scrap a ship because the cost of an extensive refit is deemed too expensive rather than hang onto it.. regardless of the shortfall in operational requirement :roll: Woe, woe and thrice woe
ATB
DaveB :tab:
