HMS Invincible (R05)

The Invincible class anti-submarine helicopter through-deck cruisers, ordered from from Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering in 1973, were intended to counter the North Atlantic Soviet submarine threat. To meet this challenge, 3 ships were originally to be configured to carry up to fourteen Sea Kings and a Sea Dart missile launcher as its main armament against air attack. 

As construction started fallout from the Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey's controversial 1966 White Paper decision not to renew Britain’s aircraft carriers hit home. The report suggested that as the RAF had sufficient global reach to make the fixed wing carriers redundant and that as Britain would no longer have a need to undertake unilateral military action; the Royal Navy's powerful carrier fleet would not be renewed. The Royal Navy was, therefore, going to have to get creative if it was to retain a dedicated air defence for its ships. At the time, the RAF's ground attack Hawker Siddley Harrier jump jet was the only fixed wing aircraft capable, through its unique V/STOL (vertical and/or short takeoff & landing) capabilities of using Invincible's shortened runway. A solution was found in 1975, when the British government authorised the development of a maritime Harrier and the addition of a ski-ramp to the ships’ bows to assist in takeoff from the short runway. 

Three Invincible class aircraft carriers were finally built: HMS Invincible being commissioned on 11 July 1980, HMS Illustrious on 20 March 1983 and HMS Ark Royal on 1 November 1985. Although small in stature and power, the Royal Navy had at least won its battle to retain a small token carrier force. But then, just as things were looking positive for HMS Invincible, in February 1982, as a consequence of Defence Secretary, John Nott, 1981 Defence White Paper, it was announced that HMS Invincible was to be sold to Australia for £175 million!

All was not lost, however, as in the early hours of Friday 2 April 1982, HMS Invincible’s Captain, Jeremy JJ Black, just 3 months into what was to be a very short command, was awakened by a call. It was a signal from the Commander in Chief to bring his ship to four hours’ notice for sea; Argentina had just invaded the Falkland Islands. On Monday 5 April, HMS Invincible, with eight Sea Harriers from 801 NAS and twelve Anti Submarine Sea King helicopters from 820 NAS, embarked Portsmouth as part of Operation Corporate, to sail 8,000 miles and re-occupy the Falkland islands. 

On 1 June, the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, then confirmed to the British government that in view of circumstances, the sale of HMS Invincible to Australia could be cancelled and in July 1983, a year after the end of the Falklands conflict, the Ministry of Defence duly announced that it had withdrawn its offer to sell HMS Invincible and the Royal Navy could keep its three-carrier force.

During the 1990s, Invincible was deployed to the Adriatic where, while her helicopters aided refugees, her Harriers were involved in NATO military strikes during the Yugoslav Kosovo War. On a lighter note, in 2003, Invincible featured in an episode of the BBC’s Top Gear involving The Stig racing a white Jaguar XJS on the deck in an attempt to reach 100 mph and stop before the end of the runway. The stunt ends with supposedly Stig and the Jaguar ending up in the sea. 

Following the war, HMS Invincible underwent several refits to increase the ship's efficiency in operating aircraft. The angle of the ship's ski-jump was increased, her hangar modified to allow for more aircraft (nine Sea Harriers and twelve Sea Kings) and accommodation for a further 120 crew (aircrew and command staff) was added. The ship's magazines were enlarged, allowing Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles to be carried for the Sea Harriers, while also increasing the number of torpedoes carried for the ship's helicopters. Air defences and the air-sea search radar and sonar were upgraded while the old and characteristic Sea Dart launcher was removed from its bow, enabling the ship's flight deck to be enlarged. 

She was decommissioned on 3 August 2005 but she and her sister  Invincible class carriers were to be replaced, this time with two much larger Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, with the first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, commissioned in late 2017. They displace around 65,000 tonnes each, more than three times the displacement of the Invincible class. 

The British aircraft carrier force remains far from redundant!

Revell’s 1:700 scale British Legends model, HMS Invincible 

The kit of HMS Invincible used for my build, was Revell’s 1:700 scale British Legends model, and perfectly labelled Falklands War. This is a 2020 re-boxed kit of one first released in 1998 by the Hong Kong model maker Dragon. Overall it was a very enjoyable build, with a good bit of detail and cleanly fitting parts. I probably went a little overboard with my weathering, very much being inspired by the rust streaked pictures of both of the other Falklands War legends, HMS Hermes and HMS Fearless. And why not apply a little artistic licence to show her as I think she deserved to look, after sailing 8000 miles and facing 3 months of battle!

Revell's box art also inspired me to have a Sea Harrier flying off the ski ramp and a Sea King helicopter just launched, on air sea rescue duty, both held aloft on thin pieces of fuse wire. You may also spot the different colour schemes of Harriers from 801 and 809 NAS, about which will all be come clear in a later post, and the AntiSubmarine and Commando Sea Kings which were the subjects of two of my earlier builds. 

For the diorama, you may also have noticed that rather than building a full sea scape, I decided to try a bit of CGI, and having a couple more watery scenes to build, this probably won't be the last CGI you'll see from me either. Some may feel that I've been too romanic in placing HMS Invincible against an idyllic sunrise, and may be it's not typically what you'd see on a winter's day in the South Atlantic, but I understand that on the morning of the British D-Day landings at Port San Carlos, the sky was unexpectedly clear, so this is again, is my interpretation of that moment, when HMS Invincible launched her Sea Harriers to protect the British landing ships against Argentine attack.  

Next week, I’ll introduce you to the Sea Harrier. 

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The Model

Brand: Revell

Title: H.M.S. Invincible (Falklands War)

Number: 05172

Scale: 1:700

Type: Full kit

Released: 2020 | Rebox