But it had to happen to a faithful friend.
I served in the ship pictured below, eleven times.
As the first ship to sail into Stanley Harbour after the Argentinian surrender on June 14, 1982, Sir Percivale won a special place in the hearts of islanders and her crew.
And now:
Now, 28 years after Argentina invaded the Falklands, this once great servant of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is dying by a thousand cuts.
Work on dismembering the rusting hulk in a Merseyside dry dock began in June and is already well under way.
Simon Capps, 35, sales manager of ship recycling company Leavesley International, said: ‘Many servicemen come to visit the ships we dismantle and shed a few tears.
‘All the steel goes off to China and eastern Europe and will probably come back as cars or even a can of beans in your cupboard.’ In her pomp the 5,674-tonne vessel could carry 500 troops and 50 crew.
Oh well, mustn’t dwell in the past.
Thanks for sharing that little bit of history with your readers.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's Hague trying to give the impression that we could now defend a small island near the bottom of the world.
ReplyDeleteWe shouldn't be scrapping ships until it is no longer safe to put people on them. (I suppose they do eventually wear out and become unusable? )
Always sad to see a proud Old Lady turned into scrap ..
ReplyDeleteJust a great pity we can't condemn politicians to the same fate ..
What a shame.
ReplyDelete"All the steel goes off to China and eastern Europe"
ReplyDeleteAnd that's another shame.