Cheers: Invincible being waved off in Portsmouth as it heads to the Falklands War
Future: HMS Invincible's interior could end up like this if the MoD give the go-ahead
Posted on 01/10/2011 10:51:21 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
HMS Nightclub: Pride of the Fleet may become a Chinese disco
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:44 AM on 8th January 2011
Nearly 30 years ago she was at the heart of the Royal Navy task force that drove the Argentine army from the Falkland Islands.
Harrier jets roared from the flight deck of HMS Invincible to wrest control of the skies from the invaders’ Mirage fighters.
Soon, however, the vast hanger of the aircraft carrier that once echoed to the clatter of planes is being rearmed for their next sortie, may well be throbbing to the beat of a sound system.
A Chinese restaurant tycoon wants to turn the venerable warship into a vast nightclub.
Kin Bong Lam, chairman of the Wing Wah Chinese restaurant empire, has submitted a £5million bid to the Ministry of Defence for Invincible.
The carrier, once flagship of the British fleet, is currently languishing in Portsmouth’s dockyard with her engines stripped out and propellers lying on deck.
Stripped of parts to keep her sister ships at sea, the ship was decommissioned in 2005 and is now up for sale.
Mr Lam said he wants to buy the Invincible through his South China company Sunway Yachts and move her to China for renovation.
The Birmingham-based tycoon said: ‘The MoD has said that it cannot be used for military purposes but I do think we can make good use of the vessel without it being scrapped.
‘I am sure that the Royal Navy will be very proud if we can create something that will be of use for people in the future.
‘The Invincible has a very distinguished history.’
He said Invincible would moved to China for conversion. He was also considering turning the
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Cheers: Invincible being waved off in Portsmouth as it heads to the Falklands War
Future: HMS Invincible's interior could end up like this if the MoD give the go-ahead
Degrading
And I’m sure that the PLA wouldn’t mind taking a look at the design of this ship to assist their own Carrier program. There may not be any direct military use left in the ship, but the very layout of the ship could give clues that would prove beneficial to a nation with no carrier experience at all.
I say sell it to them and have it sink on the way there.
Not saying that dealing with public debt by almost any means necessary isn’t a good thing, but I do believe there are other ways to go about lowering the debt than this.
hahahahaa ,,,words fail me.
It won’t happen. This is the same means that the ChiComs used when they acquired the Soviet Varyag, which they said would be turned into a casino.
Set up a front to buy the hulk for some seemingly inocuous purpose, haul it to the Dalian shipyards, and then turn it back into an operational carrier. That’s what they are up to.
The Brits are fools if they fall for this.
goes Down
To do that they'd also have to build a VTOL aircraft which (in the form of the Harier) was the only plane capable of operating from an Invincible-class carrier (no catapults!)
Prince William should buy it (on credit) and invade Pakistan. The title, “Empress of India,” would be a lovely wedding present to his future bride.
The Invincible becoming a disco? Riiight! And the Varyag is currently a casino.
Maybe the return of the Yak-41 Freesytle?
I’m rooting for the US to sell India either the Kennedy or the Nimitz.
1) It would make the Chinese drop a load in their trou.
2) The Indians are good at reverse engineering, so would soon have their own carriers based on those models, with improvements.
The problem with carriers is that you need strong propulsion, very strong stabilization, and a very competent crew to operate these. Then on top of that, you need a very competent command crew, and a very competent deck/flight crew.
Oh, yes, and something the Japanese didn’t have, and cost them plenty, very, very competent damage control.
The US has a 90 year lead on this. Technically speaking, if Japan wanted to, it could build nearly a Nimitz class aircraft carrier and be able to operate it, before either India or China could do so.
Something that China should be very careful about.
Bullcrap. They said they wanted the Russki carrier for an amusement park. She doesn’t look much like an amusement park now ...
Instead of Chinese dancing on her.... It would be more appropriate to turn the HMS Invincible into a
bunch of 500 pounders that can “dance” on the Chinese.
They could soon be needed for the defense of Australia.
“Technically speaking, if Japan wanted to, it could build nearly a Nimitz class aircraft carrier and be able to operate it, before either India or China could do so”
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Yep. And I was told they (Japan) have some prior experience with Naval Aviation.
And so it goes for a civilization in decline. The rising power buys your once treasured items, and turns them into trinkets and toys.
How long before the Enterprise is sold to make a Chinese casino?
Not a good idea to let the Chinese have another carrier to study and then refit and redeploy like they’re doing with that Soviet carrier that was also supposed to become just a ‘hotel’ when the Chinese bought it. Better the carrier should be sent to the bottom somewhere than to see her put to sea again with a ChiCom flag on her.
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