Royal Navy commander slams gov’t for dumping royal ship in Turkey:

The HMS Invincible, a historic aircraft carrier for the Royal navy, is being dismantled and melted down at a ship graveyard near Izmir. Commander John Muxworthy, who sailed on the ship in the Falkland Islands, wrote a criticism Wednesday of the ship’s disposal in the Daily Mail

The final resting place for the historic British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible is a ship scrap yard near İzmir.

The ship – decommissioned six years ago after 25 years of naval service – was sold to Leyal Ship Recycling in Port of Aliağa in February. HMS Invincible arrived in Turkey in April, and after a series of safety inspections, is beginning the scrapping process. In an article in The Daily Mail, British naval commander John Muxworthy, who sailed on the carrier in the Falkland Islands, criticized the coalition government’s decision to dispose of the ship in this way. He said the ship’s dismantling is more than just a destruction of history – he said it represents a potential decrease in Britain’s security and might.

“The image [of the scrapped ship] is a poignant symbol of Britain’s rapid decline as a maritime power,” he wrote. “With her metallic carcass exposed, the once mighty aircraft carrier HMS Invincible languishes in a Turkish port, being broken up for scrap.”

Muxworthy’s piece explored the ship’s history with the Royal Navy – a career which he said was too short. The ship, he wrote, “could have stayed in service for years to come” if it underwent renovations. HMS Invincible first set sail in 1977 as the flagship for the Falkland Islands campaign.

In the past 50 years, though, the fleet of the Royal navy has decreased substantially due to government irresponsibility, said Muxworthy.

“When I joined the Navy in 1960, we had 12 aircraft carriers, along with 30 cruisers and 150 frigates and destroyers,” he wrote. “Today, we have just 19 frigates, no major warships, and a single aircraft carrier.”

The ship’s fate, though, was sealed in February when it was sold to the Turkish firm. At the time of the ship’s sale, a representative from the British Ministry of Defense told BBC that the government chose to dispose of the ship in Turkey to both benefit the taxpayers and ensure the recycling of the ship’s parts

“It is right that we secure a good financial return for the taxpayer,” he said in an interview with BBC. “The bid from Leyal Ship Recycling does this and also ensured that she is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.”

The British government chose the Tukish scrapyard’s offer over one from a Chinese restaurateur who wanted to convert the ship into an international school, according to the BBC.

In February, the BBC said it would take eight months to dismantle the ship. The parts of the 22,000-ton boat will be melted down to produce one meter-long steel bars for use in other industrial projects. Turkey, according to the Daily Mail, produces 2 million tons of steel annually, making it the tenth biggest steel producing nation. A large portion of this steel comes from sources like the HMS Invincible.

Several other British royal ships – such as the HMS Cardiff, the HMS Newcastle and the HMS Glasgow – were dismantled by Leyal.

Source: Wednesday, 15 June 2011 

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