The flagship of Britain's Royal Navy was forced to retreat back to base Wednesday - by fears about a fridge. The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious sailed out Wednesday from Portsmouth on the southern English coast, the home of the fleet, to join multi-national operations in the Indian Ocean.
But "Lusty" had to turn back because a refrigeration unit used to store meat was in danger of breaking down. "The sensible thing is for her to come in and get that fixed before she goes off again," said Royal Navy spokesman Anton Hanney.
"It wouldn't be prudent for her to go off with the chance of the unit breaking down while she was in warmer climates and then engineers would have to be flown out to her to fix it." The warship - scheduled for replacement in 2012 - is set to lead the Orion 08 multi-national task group, which will be carrying out exercises during the next four months in the Indian Ocean.
The group is to visit 20 ports in the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East. HMS Illustrious - 209 metres long with a displacement of 22,000 tonnes and carrying Sea Harrier jump-jet fighters - is likely to return to sea Thursday, officials said.