KATY TAKES THE PLUNGE =
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Invincible sale bu time for Hermes
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IJE I CONFIRMATION that the 19,500-ton carrier HMS Invincible is to be bought by Australia has clarified the Royal Navy's big-ship situation over the next few years.
The announcement - at the end of February - of the £175 million sale also brought renewed protests in some quarters both in Britain and "Down Under." Commissioned in 1980 as be an additional cost. Arm already has Sea King heliThe Australians have been first-of-class and first ship copters and they are now conmonitoring development of the sidering whether to acquire built with the now-famous more. jump jet before deciding ski-jump ramp, the Invinciwhether to acquire these ble will be handed over to aircraft, able to operate from " lnWncJb. pksu,.s and stovy Australia late next year. the Invincible. Their Fleet Air Pag. 9. Until then she will continue to operate fully with the Royal Navy, and there will be much interest in seeing if during that time she undertakes a major deployment outside the NATO area.
HERMES
PAY OFF Originally it had been planned to pay off the Hermes next year. There has also been much speculation that the assault ships Fearless and Intrepid might run on longer than was intended, but there has been no confirmation.
In addition to the £175 million price the Australians are paying for the Invincible, there will be additional costs for stores, ammunition, missiles and spare engines. What is described as "continuing logistic support and services" will also
DESPITE more strong pleas for retention of HMS Endurance - including one from former Prime Minister James Callaghan the Government has made it clear they intend the ice patrol ship's current Antarctic season to be her last with the Royal Navy. "We would have wished to keep the Endurance in service if we could have afforded to do so," Mr.
FROM their firefighting position on the bows of HMS Ambuscade, Royal Navy ratings play hoses on to the Greek cargo ship Aria, ablaze in the Red Sea. This picture was taken by Sub-Lieut. Stuart Little during the 24-hour battle to save the vessel from sinking. The men of Ambuscade, returning from Gull Patrol, did unrelenting battle in the heat of fire and sun, no fewer than 55 men being transferred from the frigate to the stricken Aria. " Turn to Page 31 for more pictures and the full story.
Her forthcoming sale means that for the immediate future, the Royal Navy will have the Invincible and the older earner Hermes, which was updated with ski-jump ramp.
With the departure of the Invincible in late 1983. the second of the new class, HMS Illustrious, should be operational as partner to the Hermes, which it is now intended to run on until the third of the new class, HMS Ark Royal, joins .the Fleet about 1985.
NO to Endurance
Peter Blaker (Minister of State for the Armed Forces) told the Commons. "It was, as is usually the case, a question of priorities." He also said the Endurance had been offered to the British Antarctic Survey, but it was unable to accept her. Meanwhile, the Endurance remains busy on what is, apparently, her swansong down south and a full-colour feature about her current work appears in our centre pages. Sec also Page 19.
YES to eighth Type 22
THE ROYAL NAVY is to have an eighth Type 22 frigate. Placing of the order with Yarrow Shipbuilders, at an estimated total cost of £120 million, was announced by Defence Secretary Mr. John Nott as Navy News went to press. The Navy has already accepted three ships of the class, with four more being built. Leaving the Service after evaluation in a number of roles is the 117-ton hydrofoil HMS Speedy. She has been used in tasks such as fishery protection and oil and gas installation patrol, but at the conclusion of evaluation it was decided not to retain her.
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'FINANCIAL REASONS' Whitehall sources said there were limitations in some roles. In the Commons. however, former Navy Minister Mr. Keith Speed claimed that the reason for not keeping her was "purely financial." Other ships now due to go for disposal include the fast training boats Cutlass, Sabre and Scimitar, which have been laid up since last year.