HMS Illustrious has returned to port, again, because of another piece of faulty equipment. This is the second time the HMS Illustrious has returned to port since its departure on Jan 21.A Royal Navy vessel on its way to a diplomatic tour in the Indian Ocean has been unable to leave port for a second time due to mechanical failures.
HMS Illustrious is in Portland, Dorset, after a system that stops oil being discharged from the ship became faulty.
The ship first left Portsmouth on 21 January to carry out exercises in the Channel before its four-month tour.
The BBC goes on to report the port visit to Portland was scheduled, supposedly.
A Royal Navy spokeswoman said the visit to Portland was planned despite the latest mechanical problems preventing the vessel returning to sea.
I have a big problem with this, because if it is true it says worse things than if it is false, so I'm hoping this Royal Navy spokesman is simply telling a lie. By believing the HMS Illustrious was scheduled to make a port visit in Portland, then what the Royal Navy is actually telling us is that they aren't just too cheap to fly spare refrigerator parts out to the Middle East should that system break, but they are actually too cheap to fly parts out to Portland!
When you take a snap shot of the world today, you can throw conventional wisdom about Navies out the window. Who would have ever thought that the Russian Navy can deploy an aircraft carrier task force without having to return to port with problems, but the Royal Navy cannot. I love how the British people blame the wars, as if a war that involves what amounts to around a single full division of British land power explains why their military is in rapid decline of capability. If a nation with a major world economy can't conduct war with only a single division without breaking core capabilities of its entire military, then that nation can't blame the war for its problems.
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