HMS Invincible (R05)

HMS "Invincible" (R05) ("Vince") is a Royal Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare Carrier, the lead ship of three in her class. She was launched on 3 May 1977 and is the seventh ship to carry the name.

History

"Invincible" was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering. She was laid down in 1973, and launched on 3 May 1977. The ship was commissioned on 11 July 1980 and joined the older carriers "Hermes" and "Bulwark" in service.

On 6 June 2005 the Ministry of Defence announced that HMS "Invincible" would be inactive until 2010, available for reactivation at 18 months' notice. She was decommissioned on 3 August 2005. [cite news| first =John|last = Ingham| title = Invincible docks for the last time| work =The Express |publisher =Express Newspapers | page =15 | date =2005-08-02| accessdate =2007-01-04] HMS "Illustrious" succeeded "Invincible" as the service's flagship. The Royal Navy maintain that "Invincible" can be deployed should the need arise and that navy policy assumes that it is still an active aircraft carrier.

Proposed sale and Falklands War

On 25 February 1982 the Australian government announced that it had agreed to purchase "Invincible" and a number of Sea King and Wessex helicopters as embarked airpower for £175 million after several months of negotiations. The sale was confirmed by the Ministry of Defence. [cite news| first = Bridget | last = Bloom | coauthors =Newby, Patricia | title = Protest as Australia buys UK carrier | work = Financial Times| publisher = The Financial Times Limited | page = 4 | date = 1982-02-26 | accessdate = 2007-01-04] The ship would have replaced the Royal Australian Navy's HMAS "Melbourne" and would have been named HMAS "Australia". [cite web|url=http://www.harrier.org.uk/history/history_SHARdownunder.htm|title=Sea Harrier Down Under|accessdate=2008-05-27]

On 2 April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. On 5 April 1982 a naval task force headed by "Invincible" and "Hermes" left Portsmouth bound for the South Atlantic. On 20 April 1982 the British War Cabinet ordered the repossession of the Falkland Islands. On 1 June, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser advised the British Government that the sale of "Invincible" to Australia could be cancelled if desired. The UK formally declared an end to hostilities on 20 June 1982. [cite news | title = United Kingdom: Falklands Conflict - A Brief History| publisher = United Kingdom Ministry of Defence | date = 2006-11-14 | accessdate = 2007-01-04] In July 1982 the British Ministry of Defence announced that it had withdrawn its offer to sell "Invincible" and that it would maintain a three-carrier force. [cite news | title = Invincible Sale Offer Withdrawn | work = Aviation Week & Space Technology| publisher = McGraw-Hill, Inc. | page = 19 | date = 1982-07-19 | accessdate = 2007-01-04] Although Argentina claims to have damaged this ship during the Falklands War this is officially denied by the British Government. [cite news | title = Argentine Airpower in the Falklands War: An Operational View | work = Air and Space Power Journal | publisher = Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc. | date = 2002-08-20| accessdate = 2007-01-04]

Other deployments

In December 1983 Australia refused the use of dry dock facilities in Sydney for "Invincible" when the Royal Navy declined to say whether the ship was carrying nuclear weapons. [cite news | title = Australia turns back British carrier | publisher = United Press International | date = 1983-12-09 | accessdate = 2007-01-04]

From 1993 to 1995, "Invincible" was deployed in the Adriatic for Operation Deny Flight over Yugoslavia and contributed to Operation Deliberate Force which concluded the deployment.

In 1998 and 1999, she contributed to Operation Bolton in Southern Iraq along with air forces from Saudi Arabia, the United States and (in 1998) France.

Also in 1999, she was deployed once more the the Balkans to assist action against Yugoslavia. Her Harriers were involved in military strikes while her helicopters aided refugees. [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.1281 History of HMS "Invincible"]

Weapons and aircraft

For defence the carrier has a number of systems. She originally had two 20 mm Raytheon Phalanx close in weapon systems, but these were upgraded to three Thales 30 mm Goalkeeper CIWS; they also have two Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. Countermeasures are provided by a Thales jamming system and ECM system, Seagnat launchers provide for chaff or flare decoys. Initially the carriers were also armed with a Sea Dart SAM missile system, but these were removed in order to increase the flight deck size and to allow magazine storage for Royal Air Force Harrier GR7s.

The carrier's air group comprised nine Harriers and twelve helicopters (usually all Sea Kings, either anti-submarine warfare (ASW) or Airborne Early Warning (AEW) variants). The carriers also provide an operational headquarters for the Royal Navy task force. The runway is 170 m long and includes the characteristic "ski jump" (initially 7° it was later increased to 12°).

References

External links

* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.1278 HMS Invincible: Aircraft Carrier]
* [http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/invincible/index.html "Invincible" class Aircraft Carrier Information]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/aircraft_carriers/hms_invincible_r05.htm Maritimequest HMS "Invincible" photo gallery]
* [http://www.harrier.org.uk/history/history_SHARdownunder.htm HMS "Invincible" Down Under]
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar%2Fconflicto%2Fobjetivos_navales.html&langpair=es%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools Argentina's claim to have damaged HMS "Invincible".]