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World's oldest aircraft carrier to be converted into luxury hotel
The Khaleej Times ^ | February 10, 2016 | P S Jayaram

Posted on 02/12/2016 6:44:29 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki

The world's oldest aircraft carrier INS Viraat will be converted into a hotel to attract tourists after it is decommissioned from service later this year.

The Defence Ministry has approved a proposal from Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) to convert the Centaur-class aircraft carrier into a hotel.

The decision was conveyed to the state authorities on the sidelines of the International Fleet Review (IFR- 2016) at the coastal Andhra city of Visakhapatnam.

The state government has drawn up plans to convert Viraat into a 500-room hotel, the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said. The warship would be docked at the shores of Visakhapatnam to serve as a tourist attraction.

"It will have 500 rooms and a conference hall to seat 500 people. Since it is an aircraft carrier, helicopters can easily land on it. It will be convenient to hold conferences apart from being a major tourist attraction," the Chief Minister said.

The officials are confident that INS Viraat can be a game changer for the tourism development in the state. Its conversion into a hotel-cum-ship museum will be jointly undertaken by Indian Navy and Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA). The central government would also contribute for the project to be taken up under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

The north coastal city is also home to INS Kursura, a Soviet-built decommissioned submarine, that has been converted into a museum in 2002. It is the first submarine museum in South Asia. It received 270,000 visitors in 2010, according to Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority, which maintains the museum ship.

INS Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes and was transferred to India in 1987. In April 1986, India had entered into an agreement with Britain to acquired HMS Hermes. It was part of the action during the Falklands war in 1982. After refits and new equipment being fitted on Hermes, it was commissioned as INS Viraat on May 12, 1987. Originally, the aircraft carrier was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2009, but with the INS Vikramaditya's induction being delayed, Viraat underwent a series of refits and continued its service.

Viraat is currently on its last operational tour of duty and participated in the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam together with 100 other ships from 51 countries.

The 28,700-tonne aircraft carrier will retire after 57 years of service, including 29 years in the Indian Navy. Viraat, the last British ship serving the Indian Navy, is the flagship of the Western Naval Command. It can carry up to 26 fighter aircraft and helicopters, including 16 Sea Harriers and helicopters such as Sea Kings, and Chetaks. It will be decommissioned in June this year.

news@khaleejtimes.com


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: aircraftcarrier; falklands; india; tourism
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1 posted on 02/12/2016 6:44:29 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki

The Third Best Marigold Hotel?


2 posted on 02/12/2016 6:46:17 PM PST by mkmensinger
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To: sukhoi-30mki

I don’t quite get how the undercarriage withstands that ramp up at the end of the runway.

It would seem the stress would be very strong.


3 posted on 02/12/2016 6:49:26 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Remember when the PRC swore that its purchase of the Admiral Kuznetsov (carrier) from the Ukraine, and in order to legally tow it back to China they swore up and down that they would turn it into a CASINO...?!

Ridiculous..!

But true history.


4 posted on 02/12/2016 6:51:10 PM PST by gaijin
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To: DoughtyOne

Any more stressful than landing on a carrier?


5 posted on 02/12/2016 6:51:28 PM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: gaijin

Whoops..!

The PRC carrier purchase was the Varyag (then owned by the Ukraine), and China towed it out of the BLACK SEA, and made up that Casino story.

Sorry.


6 posted on 02/12/2016 6:53:15 PM PST by gaijin
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To: DoughtyOne

I would think it would be very easy for the ship’s structure to handle it in comparison to the airplane’s under structure.


7 posted on 02/12/2016 6:53:53 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki
HMS Hermes in happier times:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
8 posted on 02/12/2016 6:54:52 PM PST by mkjessup (Sarah Palin says "GO TRUMP GO!!!!")
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To: yarddog

I would agree with that, but I didn’t mean to focus on the integrity of the ship.


9 posted on 02/12/2016 6:55:04 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

These kind of projects are never successful.


10 posted on 02/12/2016 6:59:28 PM PST by SeaHawkFan
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Lets fill'er up folks...
11 posted on 02/12/2016 7:04:48 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: mkjessup

Back when UK was a global power.


12 posted on 02/12/2016 7:11:37 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: sukhoi-30mki
The world's oldest aircraft carrier INS Viraat

Not accurate as written. Perhaps the 'oldest operational aircraft carrier'. The Yorktown is older.

Hermes - laid down 1944, launched 1953, commissioned 1959 (union labor)
Yorktown - laid down 1941, launched 1943, commissioned 1943

13 posted on 02/12/2016 7:13:42 PM PST by PAR35
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To: DoughtyOne

14 posted on 02/12/2016 7:13:58 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: UCANSEE2

The ramp flattens out after five minutes, and you have to put 50,000 won in for another ten.


15 posted on 02/12/2016 7:16:11 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: SeaHawkFan
These kind of projects are never successful.

They never are.

16 posted on 02/12/2016 7:45:15 PM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: DoughtyOne

Throttle up, yoke back...


17 posted on 02/12/2016 8:06:53 PM PST by Clint N. Suhks (Two Corinthians walk into a bar...)
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To: sparklite2

Probably not. I have no idea though.

Both are stressful.


18 posted on 02/12/2016 8:13:50 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: PAR35

As per wiki the was 1924 HMS Hermes which was one of the first aircraft carrier.

The advent of fixed-wing aircraft in 1903 was followed in 1910 by the first flight from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the early to mid-1920s, resulting in the commissioning of ships such as Hōshō (1922), HMS Hermes (1924),[1] Béarn (1927), and the Lexington-class aircraft carriers (1927).


19 posted on 02/12/2016 8:14:03 PM PST by Steven Scharf
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To: sukhoi-30mki
That's nothing. The Japanese are turning the sunken Yamato into a space-faring battleship!


20 posted on 02/12/2016 8:25:48 PM PST by Samwell Tarly
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