Invincible Fight Over After Ship Reaches Scrapyard:

A CAMPAIGNER who lost her fight to preserve a Barrow-built aircraft carrier has told of her devastation after work started to cut up the vessel.

HMS Invincible, which played a crucial part in victory in the Falklands War in 1982, was sold for scrap despite a bid from a Chinese investor, who had hoped to turn it into an entertainment centre and museum.

Lorraine Robinson of Barrow led a campaign to have the ship, which drew a crowd of wellwishers when it was towed out of Portsmouth leaving UK for the last time in March, preserved in the town.

It arrived at the Turkish ship breaking yard of Leyal Ship Recycling in the port of Aliaga on April 13 and will take eight months to scrap.

Miss Robinson launched the Bring Invincible Home Campaign website soon after the ship was put into storage in 2005 to get support for her bid but now the fight is well and truly over.

She said: “I was gutted about what happened. It is really sad that they are cutting her up, especially when it is a ship that has had a good history. They don’t seem to think about that.”

Others backed her view on the Bring Invincible Home website. One supporter, who signed himself as Mark, wrote: “Although financially sound for the taxpayer and the fact that we could never keep every ship we built, it does fill my heart with grief that such an icon and part of British history is to end up at a breakers yard.

“We have spent millions hoisting what was left over from the seabed of other historic vessels and more millions to conserve them for future generations so they can see first hand an important piece of what made Britain what it is today.

“So why was it impossible to save Invincible for the same reason?”

Colin Helm said on the website: “What a very sad day on Thursday March 24 as I watched HMS Invincible being towed out of Portsmouth for the scrapyard. Such a waste.

“People were waving flags and someone played laments on the bagpipes. There were tears.

Colin Ogden said: “HMS Invincible is a magnificent ship, and should visit its birth town for the people to be able to take a look around it, after the valiant service that it has given to our country.

“It should not be sold abroad and should remain in this country as a magnificent tourist attraction in its own right.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “The disposal of Invincible is line with the UK ship recycling strategy and future disposals will be conducted in a similar fashion to prevent uncontrolled and unregulated recycling of Royal Navy vessels in other parts of the world.

“It is hoped that the lead the UK government has taken to ensure that its ships are recycled in a responsible way will continue to force standards around the world to be improved.”

Around half a million people, including the Queen, turned out to watch Invincible return victorious from the Falklands but a national paper claimed only about 50 people turned out to watch her towed away.

The ship is to be turned into thousands of blocks of steel, which could be recycled as girders or steel cables.

Source: North-West Evening Mail. Wednesday, 11 May 2011

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/invincible-fight-over-after-ship-reaches-scrapyard-1.836231?referrerPath=news/