NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2009 9
Arrows aimed at Ark
I SEE no ships...
Yes, we know these are the Red Arrows.
Yes, we know they’re RAF.
But (a) it’s a very nice picture – plus
the man behind the camera’s a matelot,
LA(Phot) Simmo Simpson – and, more
importantly (b) the beneficiary of the display
was Britain’s most famous active warship.
The legendary display team put on quite
a show in recognition of HMS Ark Royal’s
emerging from refit.
The carrier has been alongside in
Portsmouth most of 2009 undergoing a
£12m overhaul. That’s now fi nished – and
the occasion was marked in style.
The Red Arrows have been affi liated
with Ark throughout her life and put on a
magical show over the carrier, over Fleet
Headquarters on Whale Island, over HMS
Victory and over Portsmouth Harbour.
Watching the spectacle on the carrier’s
fl ight deck were the ship’s company – plus
friends and family invited aboard to see the
new-look Ark.
The fl y past was just one treat lined up for
the ship’s company on the ship’s return to
the Fleet.
They paraded for full ceremonial divisions
on the fl ight deck, where they were addressed
by Second Sea Lord (and former captain of
Ark) Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey, while
the band of HM Royal Marines Portsmouth
provided musical accompaniment.
Ark’s refi t means her days of doubling up
as a ‘second HMS Ocean’ – a helicopter/
Royal Marines assault ship – are over and
she can resume her more normal role as a
springboard for Harrier operations, taking
over from her older sister HMS Illustrious.
But with Ark out of the jump-jet ‘game’
for several years, there’s a fair amount of re-
learning old skills ahead, as well as shaking
off the cobwebs after seven months in port.
Other improvements carried out by BVT
in her home port include a new computer
network, overhauled engines and gearboxes,
and a fresh coat of special ‘intersleek’ paint
which helps the carrier to cut through
the seas more quickly – and hence more
effi ciently.
Once Ark’s trials are complete she will
take over as Fleet Flagship and, once fully
operational, the carrier is due to deploy to
the USA in 2010.
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009_NN_Oct.indd 1 21/9/09 11:50:19
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