PC/WI: 6/7 Ocean class LPH's built for Royal Navy?

WILDGEESE

Gone Fishin'
This week it was known that the Royal Navy's LPH ship HMS Ocean had been sold to the Brasilian Navy.

What instead of building HMS Ocean as a straight Landing Platform Helicopter, it was redesigned at the outset to have a docking well and as such be launched as a LPD, Landing Platform Dock?

Not only this, the Royal Navy then scrap plans for the Albion & Bulwark LPD's and the 4 Bay class DLS's and build another 5 or 6 Ocean class LPD's?

Would this be possible?

Would this improve the amphibious capability of the RN any better than the ITL?

Regards filers.
 
I think you meant LHD? Funny thing is that the RN had been looking at the Tarawa class and that was what was initially wanted. However it was rapidly realised that it was far too big a ship and beyond the RNs capabilities mainly in terms of manning the darn thing. The Ocean was supposed to have been a class of two its sister to have been called Theseus. It was a cheap and cheerful ship same cost as a Type 23 FFG mainly because it was built more to merchant standards. The force structure should have been something like three ships of a similar nature to the French or Spanish LHDs.
 
The RN probably comes out worse - although she did a lot of hard work Ocean wasn't a great ship. Built to civilian rather than military standards, very slow (18 knots at best) and not particularly well built apparently. I've read that on the way down to Sierra Leone Lusty had to park up for a couple of days and wait for Ocean to catch back up with her.
 
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They did not need to they had 3 Invincible class CVLs

I would also prefer to have a Helicopter carrier and separate LPDs or in the case of the currently 'forming' navy, a large CV (or 2) and separate LPDs and so it seems does the RN

I feel that giving a ship too many jobs dilutes its ability to perform each.
 
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