July 25, 200520 yr HMS CREWLESS Daily Mirror EXCLUSIVE Royal Navy unveils Britain's biggest ever ships ..but there's not enough sailors to man them By Chris Hughes NAVY chiefs are desperately looking for more than 1,000 new recruits to help crew Britain's two biggest ever warships. The two £1.5billion 60,000-ton aircraft carriers - three times heavier than the ones currently in the fleet - are not due to be ready until 2012. But top brass are desperate to start recruiting now. One senior source revealed yesterday: "This is a crisis as we need hundreds more marines and engineers to be ready in time. "We are moving on from the Cold War. That's over, but the need for small, lightning attacks or defensive strategies is vital. "We're adapting to an ever-changing world in which the fight against terrorism needs us to expand our versatility and sea and air capability. "That means we need to get young people training now." The design of the two ships, called Carriers of the Future (CVFs), is constantly changing and has not yet been finalised. But when built they will dwarf 43,000-ton French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle as well as the Royal Navy's three similar ships.
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