From the star aircraft carrier of the Spanish Navy to a pile of scrap metal. History of the Prince of Asturias

There are those who doubt the usefulness of the aircraft carrier, but the truth is that the major powers are crazy about their new ships. China has the new Fujian, India has the Vikrant, the US has the John F. Kennedy, and even Japan has its first aircraft carrier since World War II. Spain has the Juan Carlos Primero, but for almost 25 years the Navy’s standard was the Prince of Asturias.

Today, what was once the spearhead of the Navy is nothing more than a worthless piece of junk. Not even at a bargain price.

Prince of Asturias. In the 1970s, the US Navy developed the concept of a small escort carrier capable of providing air support for convoys. Its primary mission was to conduct an anti-submarine operation against the Soviet Union, but the $630 million project was canceled due to budget cuts. Its name was to be “Sea Control Ship” or SCS.

The plans were not left in limbo because they were acquired by Spain, which was seeking to create a “cost-effective” aircraft carrier. His idea was to create a new aircraft carrier to replace the veteran Daedalus and, after some delays, changes in the model and problems in development, after investing 105 billion pesetas – about 631 million euros – the ship was transferred to the Navy in 1988.

Ski jump who could do everything. Principe de Asturias was built in Ferrol by Nacional Bazan (now Navantia), and although she was built to the plans of the American SCS, Navantia claimed that she was a Spanish ship. “What we received from the US was a preliminary design, a conceptual idea for the ship, so the development is mainly Spanish,” Navantia commented.

Indeed, it was so. Just above these lines we see the conceptual design of the SCS next to the Prince of Asturias. There are elements that differ and although they are similar in their characteristics, diving boardthe classic ski ramp that was on “short” aircraft carriers before the introduction of electromagnetic propulsion. The ship was 196 meters long, 24.3 meters wide and weighed 17,200 tons when fully loaded.

Large capacity. It was the largest ship in the Navy until the Juan Carlos I entered service and had the ability to operate VTOL, VTOL and VTOL ships. It could carry a total of 29 ships (12 on deck and another 17 in the hangar), and its usual complement was about 12 AV-8 Harrier IIs, 12 helicopters and radar detection aircraft. From 1988 to 2012, the Prince of Asturias served in conflicts such as the first Gulf War, but there came a point when the Navy decided to remove him.

Maintenance is a disaster.. The idea was for the aircraft carrier to resume operations in the future, but there was a problem: maintenance was very expensive. It is estimated that 30 million euros had to be invested in its annual maintenance, as well as upgrading some systems and adjusting its habitable cell. More than 3.6 million euros have already been invested in the improvement of restrooms, lounges, toilets and cabins, but this has not been enough.

The cost of the new commissioning project would have been around 100 million euros, which was prohibitive at the height of the economic crisis. It was outdated and a decision was made to dismantle it in Ferrol (which was not without controversy). However, the iconic aircraft carrier had one last hope.

At a favorable price. Moored at the Ferrol shipyards since February 2013, the Ministry of Defense decided to put the Prince of Asturias up for auction in December 2015. The starting price was 4.8 million euros, and there was a clear road map: if the four auctions did not find a market (each with a price 15% lower than the previous one), it would be canceled forever. Nobody placed bets. Not in the next three years, where no country wanted to share the 2.9 million it had reached.

The auction was declared invalid, but the Spanish company Surus Inversa and its Turkish partner Leyal offered $2.7 million. The idea was not to refloat the ship, but to dismantle it and resell the reusable metal for scrap.

Death in Turkey. Thus, the brand new Spanish aircraft carrier set off on its last voyage in August 2017, heading to the port of Aliaga. Hundreds of ships of any class die at this important Turkish shipyard. We’ve already talked about how they work and Aliaga’s controversies, but beyond that, Surus and Leyal wanted to achieve 8.5 million kilograms of reusable metal, more than six million of which were steel.

In 2018, the ship was scrapped, ending the story of the historic Spanish Navy ship that was used in the film “Navy SEALs” and which has an almost twin brother: the Chakri Naruebet, the first and only Thai aircraft carrier to be built in Ferrole, designed by the Prince of Asturias.

Images | Raymond H. Turner II, Oilisab, Felix Stember, US Navy

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