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Why do they remove pennant numbers when a ship is decommissioned? Anyone know.

Good photo Phill.

Is that up Fareham Creek? There must be quite a few ships up there now, Minehunters, type 42 destroyers etc. Plus Fearless and Intrepid in the background.

I beleive Newcastle and Glasgow and also the old Ramehead..........it is Fareham creek
Cheers PHILL

The removal of the pennant nos started in the '90s when it was the vogue to tow the old ships out as targets destined for the deep on the receiving end of a torpedo or missile. It was reported that some who had regarded these ships dearly were upset at them being knocked about on consignment to the deep. Officialdom then started removing the nos and turning them into nameless hulks.
Makes it even more demanding now from Hardway, Gosport working out what they are!
Cheers

It's pretty criminal though, seeing as these minehunters aren't even 20 years old!

In my youth(?) in the 60s we had cocooned Ton class sweepers scattered through the Middle East and Far East. They were built and pretty quickly went into cocooned reserve. One would have thought that the GRP Hunt MCMVs and Sandown Minehunters with hulls that will last longer than Tons could have been lifted out of the water on such as VT's synchrolift at Porchester and cocooned for posterity on dry land.
We haven't got any trawlers to requisition as in WW2 or the Falklands.
Obviously we old salts are missing something that the the defence analysts have got well covered.

Well, as always with the MOD, it will take a major crisis for them to realise what's going on.
They got a big shock during the last war, and they got a big shock during the Falklands, seeing as if they had had their way with the defence review back then, the Falklands operation would have been near impossible without outside help!

The demise continues! Last night's Portsmouth Evening News had 2 pages devoted to Invincible and the flanker that has been played in a week since the Fleet Review. Apparently Invincible decommissions 6 months early on 1st August. Didn't last long as flagship! The Defence Minister reckons we could still mount a Falklands campaign! ?????
Cheers

Do we have a Navy at the moment, I thought we built very good and expensive warships, use them for a short while and then sell them off cheap to another country. Challenger, Coventry, London ( At Navy Days Last Month) All those Sandowns and Type 23s shortly.

I remember even Invincible had been sold to Australia then the sale was cancelled, Why is that other Navies can keep the ships in service and we can not.

Sorry I,m Ranting.

Paul

There seems to be a lack of consistancy at MoD. Fearless and Intrepid were commissioned in 1965 and 1967. They have only just been replaced by Albion and Bulwark. Keeping a warship in service for 40 years cannot be economic. The Sir Bedivere Class also date back to 1967/8. Yet we are selling off 15 year old Type 23 Frigates.
Perhaps the MoD planners have in their minds their Government issue cars that are replaced every 3 years! Sorry Paul, I am continuing your rant

Fred