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Plans to preserve the legacy of the Royal Navy’s Invincible class aircraft carriers

Wednesday, September 12th 2012 - 01:58 UTC
Full article 25 comments

Plans to preserve the legacy of the Royal Navy's Invincible Class aircraft carriers have been outlined. HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal came into service in the early 1980s and have spent the last thirty years protecting the UK's interests across the world. Read full article

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  • Boovis

    Bulwark, Ocean and Albion can still provide a good amount of cover for most operations which should protect UK interests in most circumstances. I think the absence of an aircraft carrier has been analysed in a bit too panicky a fashion. Most anti air and sea ships can deal with a basic threat from a reasonable distance and as long as the aggressors aren't anyone major like russia, china or any decent sized forces like that, I'm not sure the threat is as big as people fear. Mind you, we said that in the 1930's...

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 05:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    And we still have Lusty & Ocean plus RFA Argus which is pretty useful for carrying helos.
    Not long to wait for our 2 new supercarriers RGs :)

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 06:59 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Boovis

    If I'm still living abroad when the new ships are due to launch I might even consider flying home to see it, it should be pretty amazing :)

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 08:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • JuanGabriel

    If we are to believe some of the conspiracy theorists Illustrious is actually Ark Royal anyway, Invincible is Illustrious, Ark Royal is the secret ship built in 4 weeks without anyone knowing and the real Invincible is at the bottom of the South Atlantic

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 08:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Boovis

    I'm Spartacus.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 09:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    @4 I think you're understating things. I had to actually go back and check but it appears that the argies claimed to have attacked and sunk Invincible no less than SIX times. It's quite amazing how Invincible, Ark Royal and Illustrious are all still visible. That means that Britain built, equipped and deployed SIX additional aircraft carriers between 2nd April and 14th June 1982! God, we're good! The only reason that our new 65,000 tonne carriers are taking so long is because of the number of items that have to be gold-plated. All the cutlery, of course. The toilet handles. The taps.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 11:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?163878-Queen-Elizabeth-Class-Aircraft-Carriers-News-and-Discussion/page477

    6- Now they have finished fart @rsing around in the mod and made a decision on the planes , the build is going very well and ahead of schedule :)

    Wasn't one thread we got a carrier build in the USA in a couple of months, commissioned them crewed them (all in top secret) then steamed down to the Falklands.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 11:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    We are very surprised that the Argies have not claimed to have sunk the ELIZABETH before she is even built .lol..

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 12:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Boovis

    They sank the Invincible six times and you hardly hear a peep from us, we sank the belgrano once and they won't shut up about it; go figure.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 12:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Anbar

    “If we are to believe some of the conspiracy theorists Illustrious is actually Ark Royal anyway, Invincible is Illustrious, Ark Royal is the secret ship built in 4 weeks without anyone knowing and the real Invincible is at the bottom of the South Atlantic”

    “We are very surprised that the Argies have not claimed to have sunk the ELIZABETH before she is even built”

    “They sank the Invincible six times and you hardly hear a peep from us, we sank the belgrano once and they won't shut up about it; go figure.”

    roflmao

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 01:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    I think the best use for these old ships is to sink them to create artificial reefs. Good for sea life and good economics as a tourist attraction. Imagine the opportunity to dive an aircraft carrier. It's a shame that the greatest ships always sink in the wrong place. Couldn't the Germans on the Bismark have had a bit of forethought and chugged closer to the English coastline once they knew they were going down?

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 03:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Rufus

    @11 Idlehands

    A good idea in theory, but you'd probably have to take all the “toxic nasties” out of them first, and by the time you've dismantled them that far there isn't really much structure left to sink as a reef.

    A notable case in point was the Clemenceau, which basically had to be diced in order to get all of the asbestos, lead, mercury, PCBs and goodness only know what else out.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 03:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    The Americans do it quite a lot. They do have to be decontaminated but it is a common practice. One of the plans was to sink her off of Cornwall but apparently the admiralty couldn't stomach the thought of a televised sinking. Seemed like a stupid excuse to me - they weren't asking the captain to stay on board.

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 03:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    How about sending Illustrious to the Falklands? I know that she just missed the Falklands Victory but she could stand in for HMS Invincible. Perhaps she could even be re-named. How would the Islanders feel? Supposedly, the Ark Royal will be scrapped for £3 million. Would the Islanders be prepared to pay a reasonable amount to have Illustrious at the Islands? Would the MoD and the Royal Navy be prepared to re-name her?

    Sep 12th, 2012 - 05:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ProRG_American

    A nice pirate ship always makes a good fit in a museum.

    Sep 13th, 2012 - 01:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Boovis

    @15 *yawn* I'm sorry I wasn't listening, did you say something?

    Sep 13th, 2012 - 07:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    16...These are from the Trolls 'When you have run out of things to post'

    others are ' Prince Harry Vegas jajajajaja' 'Malvinos Argenweener'
    and 'george galloway jajajaja'

    Sep 13th, 2012 - 11:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Rufus

    @13 Idle

    The Americans do, yes, but it depends on how the ships were put together in the first place. I think the American build philosophy allows for easier decontamination than the French did.

    I've got no idea about how easy the Invincible class would be to clean prior to scuttling, but if it's practical then it sounds like an excellent idea. I think the Admiralty just get a bit squeamish when anything that flies (or has flown) a white ensign dissapears under the waves for the last time. Possibly if they packed the deck with politicians just before pulling the stoppers out it would help them...

    Sep 13th, 2012 - 11:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Malvinero1

    Bulwark, Ocean and Albion can still provide a good amount of cover for most operations which should protect UK interests in most circumstances. I think the absence of an aircraft carrier has
    Who cares.Still uk will be obliterated! uk =TERRORIST state!

    Sep 14th, 2012 - 12:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    19- In the case of RG's you and whose army!!!

    new one for the trolls

    Princes Katherine boobies

    Sep 14th, 2012 - 07:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    Very Astute …
    http://pinterest.com/navylookout/astute-class-submarines/
    British power….
    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    Argentine toys .
    http://pinterest.com/navylookout/astute-class-submarines/
    .

    Sep 14th, 2012 - 06:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • British_Kirchnerist

    #17 What about George Galloway, he's a good guy and an impressive politician, if we had our act together like Latin America he'd probably be the president =)

    Sep 16th, 2012 - 07:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    22...George Galloway, Princes Kate photos, Priiiiiiiince Harry Vegas jajajajajaja

    Sep 17th, 2012 - 11:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • British_Kirchnerist

    I don't care about Harry and Kate, and I only “care” about Galloway in that I appreciate his politics and he was mentioned on here already...

    Sep 17th, 2012 - 03:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Santa Fe

    24... Your well suited to each other.

    Sep 17th, 2012 - 08:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0

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