Chief petty officers often find work for sailors who have little to do during a return voyage. HMS Invincible's fresh paint after the Falklands War has been used to support claims that Britain concealed severe battle damage or even the carrier's loss. Damage on that scale would have required major structural repairs and caused casualties, neither of which paint could conceal. Routine work on ordinary marks is offered as the probable explanation: idle personnel could simply have been told to repaint them. This remains an explanation for the paint, without a claim to know the particular order that produced it.
Notable Point · 29:28-31:29
HMS Invincible, fresh paint, and keeping crews occupied
Routine painting is the probable explanation for fresh paint on HMS Invincible's return from the Falklands, whereas paint could not conceal the structural damage and casualties alleged in cover-up claims.