Q&A · 3:32:31-3:33:49

If Warspite returned immediately after decommissioning

A newly decommissioned Warspite appearing today would be preserved as a museum, with her fame making renewed scrapping politically and culturally implausible.

Question

What would happen if Warspite appeared in modern Britain immediately after decommissioning?

Short answer

She would almost certainly be preserved as a museum ship rather than sent to the breakers again.

Notes

The serious answer to the scenario is that Warspite would become a museum ship. Her condition immediately after decommissioning would offer preservation opportunities that were lost when the historical ship went for disposal. The panel jokes that naval historians would physically defend her from any renewed attempt to scrap the hull. A later machine-spirit fantasy is treated as humour, while the historical point remains the extraordinary heritage value of receiving a complete capital ship from 1945.