E-Book read: Phoenix Squadran by Rowland White

Having read the excellent Vulcan book by the same author, I thought this one sounded like it could only be a let down from that story. So I bought it on my Kindle, and was pleasantly surprised. The context is of the use of Ark Royal using her Bucaneer aircraft to face-down a potential invasion of Belize. The author does a good job of describing the ship, the logistics of the operation, and the wider historical context of the time - that of Britain becoming a diminishing power and the decision to scrap the future carriers. Even though the operation was nothing more than a show of force (fly a long range mission to spend a few minutes circling the city), it acted as a deterrent to an invasion. The technical details of the ship and operations are very detailed, and makes you realise how complex carrier operations must be. Also in the days before GPS, planes having to use inertial navigation to dead reakon their position and intented movement of the carrier. The last part of the book focuses on 1982, when there was just two Harrier based carrier to send to the South Atlantic and wondering if the invasion would have taken place if more air power could have been taken down there. Of course we are building two new carriers, a completely bizarre decision - more so than the original cancelling of future carriers. One will end service in ten years, one will be mothballed or sold on completion as it's cheaper to build than to cancel.