Life is breathed back in Lusty

AFTER a £40m revamp, Britain’s only aircraft carrier will return to sea on June 3 to start down the year-long road back to front-line duties.

HMS Illustrious hasn’t been seen at sea since the beginning of 2010 when she sailed to Rosyth for a 16-month refit in the hands of Babcock.

Lusty was due to emerge from her refit as the nation’s strike carrier, taking over from HMS Ark Royal.

HMS Ark Royal name may live on thanks to Prince Charles

The historic name of Leeds’s very own warship is set to live on.

The name HMS Ark Royal – one of the most prominent in Navy history – will pass to a new aircraft carrier, after an intervention by the Prince of Wales.

The Prince is understood to have privately agreed to allow HMS Prince of Wales, which is under construction, to be renamed Ark Royal, after the former flagship bearing the name was decommissioned.

A senior Navy officer is understood to have approached the Prince, who holds the rank of admiral in the Navy, who said he had no objection to the name change.

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Submit Your Bids for HMS Ark Royal

In case you’re on the market for a used aircraft carrier, the Brits have officially posted an advertisement offering up the HMS Ark Royal, former flagship of the Royal Navy, and time is running out to buy. The only problem is you’re going to have to buy her without seeing her for yourself since the last day to sign up to inspect your future aircraft carrier was yesterday. For those of you who did sign up, tours are scheduled at 8:00 AM on May 7 and 8 at Her Majesty’s Navy Base, Portsmouth, UK.