HMS Warspite

[Kyler]

It is a crying shame that she couldn't be saved from the salvage yard.

[Karl Heidenreich]

Yes, it's a shame. Such a figting ship with such a combat record. Vessels that fought nothing are being preserved and catalogued as "Hero Ships" with combat stars and such and this one, that carried such a burden and with real life combat history, was left to rust and to be scuttled. A shame.

[lwd]

Given the choice between preserving Enterprise or Warspite I'd have a very hard time choosing. Warspite might even have a slight edge.

[Gary]

Given the choice between preserving Enterprise or Warspite I'd have a very hard time choosing. Warspite might even have a slight edge.

I'd choose Warspite for 1 reason

I'm British

Americans will probably disagree and go for Enterprise (infact I'd be worried if they didnt - The Big E is an American icon)

[Bgile]

I think it's a terrible shame that the British were unable to save even one battleship out of all the ships of that type which fought for Britain in WWI and WWII. I'm singing to the choir I'm sure, though. The common people who needed to contribute apparently didn't consider it important enough.

[lwd]

... Americans will probably disagree and go for Enterprise (infact I'd be worried if they didnt - The Big E is an American icon)

I'm form the US. Enterprise certainly performed well in WWII but Warspite served well in two wars. When you consider that we kept Texas, it's a real shame that Warspite was scrapped. Enterprise was almost saved at one point then was reactivated and the scapping decision was made too quickly....
Ideal world they'd both still be around.

[yellowtail3]

Vessels that fought nothing are being preserved and catalogued as "Hero Ships" with combat stars and such and this one, that carried such a burden and with real life combat history, was left to rust and to be scuttled. A shame.

I've been to a number of museum ships, and haven't seen any of them catalogued as Hero Ships - which ones are these? I think most of the ships that are preserved in the US did see combat, with a couple exceptions... I'm thinking Nautilus and Albacore? - but there may well be others.

Which ships are you thinking of?

[RF]

It is a crying shame that she couldn't be saved from the salvage yard.

For naval enthusiasts yes, particulary those outside Britain. But not a crying shame for the British taxpayer who otherwise would foot the bill for maintaining the ship as a museum piece. HMS Belfast is already preserved as a historical monument to WW2, the thing with HMS Warspite and the other old battlewagons is that the more that are preserved the less attractive overall they become to tourists and casual visitors while the total costs to keep them all would escalate, with limited amounts of private capital being available - particulary in a recession.

I fully agree with the sentiment of keeping HMS Warspite - its the cold reality of economics that is the problem.