New British aircraft carrier Hms Queen Elizabeth could be rushed into service if hostilities with North Korea break out. The behemoth was not meant to be put into service until at least 2020 but with tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the services of this new British ship could be needed.
With Trump and Kim involved in a spat over Kim's launching of missiles and nuclear tests, it is only right that the UK should be on standby. Obviously, no one wants to get sucked into a war like Iraq or Libya, however, the UK has the means to defend itself and with those means, if necessary it will defend itself.
HMS Queen Elizabeth has certainly made the Russians sit up and take notice as many pundits have compared the British ship with Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov. Many have lampooned the old Russian carrier saying the British aircraft carrier outclasses the Russian ship on all fronts from seaworthiness to weapons systems.
The British carrier is indeed a beast to be reckoned and restores a great British naval tradition. Its displacement is 67,000 tons, it is 920 ft in length and its beam is 230 ft. Its draught is 36 ft and it travels at 25 + knots and has the capacity to carry 679 crew which can increase to 1,600 with an air group.
The ship is bigger than RMS Titanic but not as long as the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
This ship indeed is an impressive craft and has certainly given the UK's enemies abroad something to ponder.
Total recall
Those who lived through the 80's will recall the Falklands conflict when British territory in the South Atlantic was overrun by Argentine forces. Back then another British aircraft carrier was rushed into service - HMS Illustrious - and in 1982 the UK also had a female Prime Minister.
Arguably the British victory saved Margaret Thatcher's bacon as Prime Minister as the country got behind her in a show of nationalism, not seen since the days Winston Churchill perhaps.
Some pundits are seeing a possible repeating of history here saying if conflict breaks out with North Korea a British task force could be put together featuring HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The difference in 1982 was that the British task force in the South Atlantic was fighting to free a British island from Argentine forces. Today the British would be part of a coalition of nations headed up by the US to tackle the regime of Kim Jong-un.
Argentina did not have a nuclear capability and that would be the difference between any conflict with North Korea now and Argentina back then. Also although other Latin American nations like Brazil did offer support to Argentina but did not enter the war against Britain. China, on the other hand, could enter any conflict if it sees the war going against North Korea for example. This then would be a dangerous scenario possibly leading to a ratcheting up of hostilities with very dangerous consequences for all sides.
If a victory was achieved what could be the fall out be for Britain? Well let us examine history Margaret Thatcher was hated by many before 1982 and after the Falklands victory, she stayed in office for many years to come. Like Thatcher then, May is hated by many today and a successful outcome of a conflict with North Korea could save her. But this is just speculation about an unknown set of events that may never play out.
It would seem May has enough to deal with right now so any talk of war with North Korea is speculative and premature at best.
Micheal Fallon adamant
Sir Michael Fallon is backing the UK all the way saying the UK has enough naval ships like Type 45 Destroyers and Type 23 Frigates to give Kim a bloody nose.
Augmented by HMS Queen Elizabeth this would certainly give friend or foe alike pause for thought.
Fallon has also said the UK should be concerned with North Korea and spend more on defence. The reason behind his thinking was that London geographically is nearer to Pyong Yang than Los Angeles. Certainly, if the North has long-range missiles this is something the UK should be studying militarily.
Donald Trump has gone on record as saying everything has been tried with North Korea and nothing works. North Korea is feared to be launching another missile tomorrow and how the US and its Allies react remains to be seen.
