THERE were three cheers for HMS Invincible one last time this morning – and not a few tears shed as the Falklands veteran was towed for breaking up.
A sizeable crowd gathered on Round Tower in Portsmouth for a final glimpse of the former flagship which is being taken to Turkey.
The carrier has been laid up in the naval base for the past six years and her innards gutted – engines and equipment removed – and her propellers removed.
Much of 'Vince' was cannibalised to keep her sisters running – the now defunct Ark Royal, which Invincible passed on her way out of Portsmouth, and HMS Illustrious.
Weather permitting, the former carrier should arrive in Aliaga on Turkey's west coast, just north of Izmir, in around a month's time.
The firm which won the contract to break her up, Leyal, has already dismantled other RN vessels, notably the Type 42 destroyer trio of Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow, which were sold in 2009.
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