Turkish shipbreakers have bought the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible and plan to take her to Aliaga where she will be distmantled
The 32-year-old HMS Invincible is to be towed from Portsmouth before the end of March on her final voyage to the Aegean where she will be dismantled at Aliaga, near Izmir, in Turkey.
Invincible played a pivotal role in the Falklands War and was finally retired by the Royal Navy in September 2010 after spending the previous five years in reserve.
During the Falklands War, Sea Harrier aircraft operating from HMS Invincible and the aircraft carrier Hermes bore the brunt of the Task Force’s defence against Argentine aircraft in the South Atlantic. Both ships were considered top priority targets and, had either been sunk, it would have made the recapture of the islands impossible.
It will take around eight months to reduce Invincible from a once proud ship to 17,000 tonnes of components and scrap metal.
