Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Savetheroyalnavy.org

Farewell old lady.

INS Viraat (ex HMS Hermes) was towed from Mumbai this morning on her final journey to the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in Gujarat.

Best ship | ever served on - third commission under the greatest skipper I ever served with afloat - T T LEWIN .

She served us well and she served the Indian Navy well .

Will the new breed of Carriers last as long ...... I sadly doubt it

DaveH wrote: ↑Sun Sep 20, 2020 12:56 pm Best ship | ever served on - third commission under the greatest skipper I ever served with afloat - T T LEWIN .

She served us well and she served the Indian Navy well .

Will the new breed of Carriers last as long ...... I sadly doubt it

QEC designed to last 50 years Dave, will evolve into drone carriers and then what?

A view of VIRAAT (x-HERMES) being towed away, 19 sept, 2020....... She served 2 Navies long and well; not bad for a 1943 WW 2 design! DFO

https://maritimeindia.org/wp-content/up ... hauhan.pdf

Here is a sad but emotive article by Hermes/Viraat's former IN commanding officer on the passing of a great ship. I am working with the Naval Attache at the Indian HC to liberate approx. 1,000 Kos of flight-deck to melt and cast into commemorative plaques of the ships crest, 500 each Navy, which will sell at approx. £100 quid, its an expensive exercise, if we can pull it off. Far away, lots of people with involvement, coordination issues so keep fingers crossed.

Here is an example of whats in mind, cast from the steel of HMS Belfast mast when they were replaced by the splendid Russian replicas 10 years ago.

HERMES - In happier days.

https://delhidefencereview.com/2020/09/ ... t-vikrant/

also posted to the IN thread.

Next week I will negotiate with the Alang breakers to secure a small quantity of the actual flight deck of Hermes/Viraat to cast the crests mentioned earlier; would be really helpful to have feedback from those with a view to express, am I wasting my time or what??

your very much appreciate your views, thanks

timlewin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:13 pm https://delhidefencereview.com/2020/09/ ... t-vikrant/

also posted to the IN thread.

Next week I will negotiate with the Alang breakers to secure a small quantity of the actual flight deck of Hermes/Viraat to cast the crests mentioned earlier; would be really helpful to have feedback from those with a view to express, am I wasting my time or what??

your very much appreciate your views, thanks

Tim one problem might be 'getting the word out.'
Perhaps a short 'Notice of Intention - Please respond if Interested' + a photo of the Belfast one which we could copy and paste or download.
We could then post it to elsewhere where ex Hermes are or could be.
There are 2 Hermes Facebook Groups - HMS Hermes (R12) Group · 2.8K members
But that is a private one so somebody would have to join it in order to post the notice.
The other one is Public so could be posted on but is much smaller.
HMS Hermes Group · 231 members

The spirit of Hermes-Viraat will live on; yesterday I made an agreement with Mr Mukesh Patel, the chairman of the Shreeram Group who own the ship dismantling facility at Alang to join my team to preserve the memories of this wonderful old ship. He will save for us 750 Kgs of steel from the flight deck from which we will cast steel crests of the ship in both her names, steel being a magnetic medium has the power of memory (as in tape, credit cards and so on) so all the memories of her life and service will live on. This amount of steel should allow 250 crests of each configuration, maybe a bit more. The will be mounted on an oak plaque, as we did for Belfast (see thread) with a commemorative panel and a certificate from Alang confirming the authenticity of the steel, maybe a small booklet with photos as well. Meanwhile, here are some photos they sent me this morning.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... t-6657376/

more from the Indian press