HMS Illustrious may be scrapped after retirement
Last of Navy’s three Invincible-class aircraft carriers could become tourist attraction or be sold for recycling
The Royal Navy helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious could be broken down for scrap unless a buyer comes forward to preserve it as a tourist attraction.
The warship, the last of the three Invincible-class aircraft carriers, will retire from active duty next year and the government has launched a sale process aimed at keeping it in the UK with “part or all of it developed for heritage purposes”.
But in a Commons statement the defence minister Philip Dunne said the carrier could be sold for recycling if no suitable bids were received.
Illustrious’s sister ships Ark Royal and Invincible have already been scrapped, but Dunne said the government hoped the last of the line could be preserved.
He said: “HMS Illustrious, the last of these three iconic ships, is due to retire from service with the Royal Navy in 2014. The Ministry of Defence’s Disposal Services Authority (DSA) has today launched a competition which will seek innovative re-use bids to retain the ship in the UK, with part or all of it developed for heritage purposes.”
An industry day will be held in January for organisations “able to put forward mature and viable proposals, in keeping with the role and history of the Invincible class of ships”. That would be followed by a “full and open competitive process”, he said.
But Dunne added: “In the event that no suitable re-use bids with a heritage element are submitted, the DSA will open up the competition by seeking proposals for other uses or recycling.”
The 210-metre (689ft) ship, nicknamed Lusty, was involved in the Gulf War and the conflict in Afghanistan, and supported evacuations from Sierra Leone in 2000 and Lebanon in 2006.
HMS Illustrious was converted to be used as the navy’s helicopter carrier following the government’s decision to sell the Harrier jets that operated from its flightdeck.
