Sadness as Fearless leaves on final journey

Fearless passes the Spinnaker Tower on her last voyage

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/latest/Sadness-as-Fearless-leaves-on.3600570.jp

By Andy Davey

A proud old navy ship that enjoyed a long career was carefully led out of Portsmouth for the final time today.

HMS Fearless, which served in the Royal Navy from 1965 to 2002, was towed out of the Harbour and into the English Channel, bound for Ghent in Belgium, where she will be broken down and recycled.
Poor weather and high winds have repeatedly delayed the final departure of the Falklands veteran, which aside from HMS Victory was the longest-serving ship in the Navy, but she finally began her final journey today.
It was a sad day and hundreds gathered on the Round Tower to pay their respects to the 12-tonne assault ship.
Among the onlookers was Derek 'Smokey' Cole, a stoker on Fearless's sister ship HMS Intrepid. 'It's very sad,' he said. 'I've served on many ships that have been scrapped but I've never taken the time to see them sail out for the last time.
'It's strange but it's probably because it was the longest-serving steam ship to serve in the Royal Navy and it is the end of an era.'
The ship served as headquarters for counter-terrorist operations in Aden in 1967, and in 1968 was the venue for talks between Harold Wilson and Ian Smith over the future of Rhodesia.
Before the Falklands War, Fearless enjoyed a brief movie career when she was cast alongside Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977 as the vessel which picks up 007's escape pod.
HMS Fearless, which can carry up to a battalion of troops, also played a critical role in the Falklands War alongside her sister ship HMS Intrepid and took part in the landings at San Carlos, where she landed hundreds of Royal Marines from 40 Commando.
She also played an active role in the first Gulf War in 1990.
The ship has been replaced by HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.