Royal Navy Cuts

While I think we should just cut all our armed forces, and have a minimalist self defence force (consisting of a few drunk men, and pointed sticks), most have eschewed that in favour of big, expensive ships and aircraft.

I keep reminding people that England doesn't matter anymore, and we should stop poking our noses in where it doesn't belong.  This falls on deaf ears mostly, but the new defence review has ordered the scrapping of the HMS Ark Royal.  Our biggest ship.

The Ark Royal is:

• 211 metres long
• Has a maximum beam of 36m
• Has a draft of 8.4m
• Displaces 20,000 tonnes
• Full complement of 682 sailors
• Can carry an additional 668 aircrew and Royal Marines

This sounds extremely impressive.  Let's see how this stacks up against the american equivalent:

Displacement:	100,000 to 104,600 long tons
Length:	Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m)
Beam:	Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m)
Draft:	Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m) Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m)
Propulsion:	2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph)
Range:	Essentially unlimited distance; 20 years
Complement:	Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480		Why

Why don't we just call it a day on all this meaningless posturing?