Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the decommissioning of HMS Ocean on the Royal Navy's LHD capability and the suitability of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers to undertake that role in addition to their replacing the Invincible Class aircraft carriers.

HMS OCEAN entered service in 1998 with a specific service life, based on her build specification, of 20 years. In accordance with this, OCEAN will be decommissioned, as planned, in 2018.

It was stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 that a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier would be enhanced to support our amphibious capability. Together with the existing amphibious ships of the Royal Navy and the Bay Class ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, this will provide the capability to deploy our amphibious forces.