Scuttling of HMS Implacable, 2nd December 1949
I had hoped to post this yesterday but didn't have a chance... Sixty two years ago on the 2nd of December 1949 the Royal Navy scuttled HMS Implacable, the only other ship aside from HMS Victory to have survived the Battle of Trafalgar. Implacable was originally a French Temeraire class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin. She survived Trafalgar but was subsequently captured at the Battle of Cape Ortegal. Implacable saw 40 years of active service in the Royal Navy, and from 1855 was used as a training ship at Hamoaze. Despite considerable protest and many appeals to save Implacable, her upkeep was considered to be too expensive and she was scuttled off the Isle of White in St Catherines Deep. She went down with full honours flying both French and British colours. This unique and deeply moving event was captured on film by British Pathé and I confess I can not watch the extraordinary footage without tearing up. Unfortunately the Pathé embed code doesn't seem to work on LJ but you can view the film here: Implacable to the End. Despite the best efforts of the Royal Navy it took over three hours to sink the 155 year old wooden ship.
HMS Implacable defies the best attempts of the Royal Navy to scuttle her.
Over forty years later in 1991 the National Historic Ships Committee was established to address the problem of preserving historic ships and vessels in the UK and to ensure that no other historic ship would suffer the fate of HMS Implacable.
HMS Implacable defies the best attempts of the Royal Navy to scuttle her.
Over forty years later in 1991 the National Historic Ships Committee was established to address the problem of preserving historic ships and vessels in the UK and to ensure that no other historic ship would suffer the fate of HMS Implacable.