THE Tyne-built Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has been sent to the Philippines to help with the relief effort, after the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.

The vessel, which was taking part in exercises in the Gulf, will arrive in the disaster zone to support the humanitarian operation by November 25, replacing HMS Daring, which has already been deployed to the Philippines.

A charity appeal to help the 11.5million people affected by the disaster has raised £23m in just two days and the Government has now given more than £20million in aid.

HMS Illustrious, the Royal Navy’s only operational aircraft carrier, has a 900-strong crew and seven helicopters to provide assistance, as well as the ability to create fresh water, vital to combat the spread of disease.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced the deployment of HMS Illustrious during a visit to India, said: “What happened in the Philippines is an absolute tragedy. You can see the devastation, the suffering, and it’s quite clear that we are going to need long-term help for those people.

“The British Government has already pledged over £20m, which makes us one of the most generous donors anywhere in the world.

“But it’s practical action that’s needed as well. That’s why I sent HMS Daring to go and help in the Philippines and I can announce today that once Daring has started its work, we are actually going to be able to replace in time HMS Daring with HMS Illustrious, which is, of course, a carrier with helicopters – seven times as many helicopters as on HMS Daring and with the key ability to process fresh water, so we will be giving further assistance in the best way we can.”

A Philippine Navy patrol boat sails past the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier George Washington (C) docked after its arrival at a Manila bay in this October 24, 2012 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

TACLOBAN, Philippines – A US aircraft carrier “strike group” started unloading food and water to the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines on Thursday, as President Benigno Aquino faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of supplies.

While relief efforts picked up, local authorities began burying the dead – an important, if grim, milestone for a city shredded by one of the world’s most powerful typhoons and the tsunami-like wall of seawater believed to have killed thousands.

“There are still bodies on the road,” said Alfred Romualdez, mayor of Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people reduced to rubble in worst-hit Leyte province. “It’s scary. There is a request from a community to come and collect bodies. They say it’s five or 10. When we get there, it’s 40.”

Many petrol station owners whose businesses were spared have refused to reopen, leaving little fuel for trucks needed to move supplies and medical teams around the devastated areas nearly a week after Typhoon Haiyan struck.

“The choice is to use the same truck either to distribute food or collect bodies,” Romualdez added.

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off wind-swept eastern Samar province, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft, after what strike force commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery called a “high-speed transit” from Hong Kong.

It is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur’s force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest allied victories of World War Two.

“Operation Damayan” started with the George Washington and two cruisers taking up position off Samar to assess damage and provide logistical and emergency support such as fresh water.

Ships carried 11 pallets ashore – eight containing 1,920 gallons of water and three containing food – at Tacloban airfield. Several pallets of water were taken to Guiuan, home to home to 45,000 people, which was also badly hit by the storm.

The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on the flight deck.

“One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters,” Montgomery said in a statement. “These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around.”

Britain also said it would send a helicopter carrier, HMS Illustrious, to help in the relief effort. Japan was also planning to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft, in what could be Tokyo’s biggest postwar military deployment.

Outside Taclaban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, city administrator Tecson John Lim told Reuters.

The city government remains paralysed, with an average of just 70 workers compared to 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were simply too overcome with grief to work.

The government was distributing 50,000 “food packs” containing 6 kg (13 lb) of rice and canned goods each day, but that covers just 3 percent of the 1.73 million families affected by the typhoon.

Royal Navy minehunter HMS Penzance arrives in Gibraltar tomorrow for a short visit before heading back into the Mediterranean as part of the German-led multi-national maritime force ‘Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 2’ (SNMCMG2).

HMS Penzance will conduct a maritime security patrol on her way into the Naval Base and will take the opportunity to stock up on fuel and supplies whilst visiting the Rock.

The minehunter’s role is to neutralise underwater threats and clear the sea-lanes for shipping. She is one of seven Sandown-class minehunters and she is the UK’s most up-to-date minehunter.

HMS Penzance is carrying out her first sea deployment since her six-month comprehensiverefit programme.

Also arriving tomorrow is HMS Dragon who is on her way back to the UK. She returns following a successful seven-month maiden deployment to the Middle East as part of the UK’s long term commitment.

She like HMS Penzance will conduct a maritime security patrol on her way into the Naval Base and will take the opportunity to stock up on fuel and supplies whilst here in Gibraltar.

As the fourth of the Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers she was commissioned into the Navy’s fleet in April last year. Since then the highly capable multi-role ship and her 190 strong crew have undergone intensive sea trials and training off the UK coast prior to her recent deployment.