HMS Invincible was scrapped in the defence cuts but could rake in £2million after being put up for sale on an E-bay style website Photo: M&Y
Posted on 11/28/2010 3:25:28 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Aircraft carrier HMS Invincible is put up for sale
After 32 years of service in the Royal Navy, the carrier Invincible is up for sale on the Disposal Service Authority website – the government equivalent of eBay.
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent 2010
It is an ignominious end for a ship that served in the Royal Navy from 1973 to 2005, and took part in the Falklands, Balkans and Iraq wars before being decommissioned in 2005.
The Ministry of Defence is understood to be hoping to raise £2 million after they put the 17,000 ton vessel up for sale on edisposals.com.
But so far no bids have been received for Invincible, which is listed on the site as 'in stock'.
In its heyday the ship was powered by four Rolls-Royce gas turbine engines, could reach a top speed of 28 knots, and had a range of 7,000 nautical miles. It was equipped with up 18 Sea Harrier, four Sea King helicopters and had a ships compliment of 1,050.
The ship underwent a major refit in 2004 but was decommissioned in 2005 with the proviso that she could be "reactivated" at 18 months notice if a crisis beckoned. But over the years her engines, pumps and gear boxes were cannibalised for use in other ships. Of her total weight of 17,0000 tons, 10,000 is compose of metal which made her attractive on the scrap market.
Leavesley International said they are interested in using the ship for its scrap metal. The company's operations manager Stuart Halsley said: "I haven't made any decision. I'm still pricing it up at the moment. There's certainly a lot of ship there but anybody looking at doing the job needs to look at the associated costs involved.'"
Bids for the ship,
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
HMS Invincible was scrapped in the defence cuts but could rake in £2million after being put up for sale on an E-bay style website Photo: M&Y
I’m pretty sure China will put in a rapid bid.
There’s lots to be learned just from examining the ship. Well worth the price of scrap metal.
Heck, Freerepublic should buy it. Rename it the “HMS Jim Thompson”.
Maybe all of us can chip in and buy it?
They should sell it to Argentina!
What could one learn from a 32 year old ship
Ungland...
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