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India's first aircraft carrier slips into history
Times News Network ^ | 11/22/2014 | V Narayan

Posted on 11/23/2014 7:06:50 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki

Work has begun on scrapping the country's first aircraft carrier, Vikrant.

Built for the British Royal Navy as HMS Hercules in 1943, it was acquired by India in 1957 and saw action during the India-Pakistan war in 1971, playing a key role.

When the electric saws were pressed upon the ship, it essentially put an end to a movement by activists to save her. Vikrant was auctioned to a ship-breaker for Rs 63 crore this year. Mumbai's IB Commercials Pvt Ltd won the bid on January 29 and bought the vessel on April 9. Since then, the company faced hurdles as a PIL filed in the Bombay high court towards the end of 2013 proceeded to the Supreme Court.

Save Vikrant Committee chief Kiran Paigankar, who had filed the PIL to save the ship, termed it "a sad day in the country's glorious maritime history". He said it was unfortunate that the process to expedite the end of Vikrant was initiated by the Indian Navy which once considered the vessel its 'pride'.

"I was ready to accede to the activists' demand for converting the vessel into a permanent museum. But my request to get my money back, the money that I had pumped in to buy the ship, was not granted. I had taken loans on high interest," said Abdul Karim Jaka, the owner of IB Commercials. "I had been meeting the activists even before the PIL was filed. I met them even after the PIL was dismissed on August 14. I met Admiral (retd) I C Rao and Aam Aadmi Party's Meera Sanyal, but nothing concrete happened. The navy handed over the vessel to us in October. On November 12, we got the go ahead from the Supreme Court to start cutting the steel." His son Zuber said, "At 2pm on Tuesday , approximately 200 workers at our yard embarked upon the work to cut out 15,700 tons of steel from the vessel."

"An important chapter of Indian history revolving around Vikrant has finally ended. Despite all our efforts, we could not prevent her from breaking up," Paigankar said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: aircraftcarrier; india; indiannavy
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1 posted on 11/23/2014 7:06:50 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki
Assorted airgroup
2 posted on 11/23/2014 7:07:18 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
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To: rlmorel
ping
3 posted on 11/23/2014 7:09:37 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

She suffers the fate of most ships; the bottom or the breakers.


4 posted on 11/23/2014 7:10:53 PM PST by X Fretensis (How)
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To: sukhoi-30mki
hadn't realized how small she was.✈
the scale, being the jets on deck.

5 posted on 11/23/2014 7:31:25 PM PST by skinkinthegrass ("Bathhouse" E'Bola/0'Boehmer/0'McConnell; all STINK and their best friends are flies... d8^)
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To: skinkinthegrass

Looks ike an escort or “jeep” carrier. Just enough planes to protect a convoy from enemy aircraft.

CC


6 posted on 11/23/2014 7:39:24 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (Quo Vadis?)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Looking at the pic, it appears the ship ran aground.

Are there any 7/11’s on board?


7 posted on 11/23/2014 7:40:13 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: sukhoi-30mki; Kenny Bunk
Well, the Admirals and Vice-Admirals of the glorious Indian Fleet may not know it, but as many a hard-working Indian preteen with tetanus and ringworm has said, breaking up is hard to do.
8 posted on 11/23/2014 7:55:08 PM PST by golux
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To: Kenny Bunk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhIaEEW63Sc


9 posted on 11/23/2014 7:59:05 PM PST by golux
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To: sukhoi-30mki; SunkenCiv; a fool in paradise

it was ancient!


10 posted on 11/23/2014 7:59:36 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Celtic Conservative

it probably was laid down as an escort carrier

in 1943!!


11 posted on 11/23/2014 8:05:25 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Harland & Wolff? Oh my....


12 posted on 11/23/2014 8:09:34 PM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs.)
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To: GeronL

Just looked it up. It was a Majestic class medium carrier, between a fleet size carrier and a escort carrier. It was laid down by Harland & Wolff, the same firm that built Titanic, but sat unfinished until 1957 when the Indian navy bought it and had it completed.

CC


13 posted on 11/23/2014 8:15:49 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (Quo Vadis?)
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To: Celtic Conservative

wow, it sat there for 14 years and then it served a very long time!


14 posted on 11/23/2014 8:17:16 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Celtic Conservative
Looks ike an escort or “jeep” carrier. Just enough planes to protect a convoy from enemy aircraft.

A little bigger than that. When built, the HMS Hercules was styled as a "light fleet carrier" displacing around 19K tons.

For comparison, the "jeep carriers" displaced 9-11,000 tons while the Essex class displaced up to 37K tons.

15 posted on 11/23/2014 8:23:44 PM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: GeronL

But it was berry berry good carrier!


16 posted on 11/23/2014 8:26:25 PM PST by bigbob (The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
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To: Kenny Bunk

Actually this is a much more interesting piece with facts about the industry...

Echoes of Ship Breaking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV3M4jqD-Sg


17 posted on 11/23/2014 8:31:42 PM PST by golux
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To: sukhoi-30mki

$10,000,000 paid for a ship whose steel will sell for something like $3,000,000? This does not make sense.


18 posted on 11/23/2014 8:34:01 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: bigbob

“But it was berry berry good carrier!”

ROFLMAO!


19 posted on 11/23/2014 8:50:09 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

US ships usually sell for a penny


20 posted on 11/23/2014 8:51:23 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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