A BARROW-BUILT aircraft carrier faces the scrapyard unless it is turned into a floating hotel, naval bosses have said.

HMS Hermes was was laid down in Barrow in 1944 but

did not enter the Royal Navy until 1959, by which time it incorporated some of the most modern developments in aircraft carrier thinking, including an angled flight deck, the newest radar, mirror landing systems and other innovations.

The aircraft carrier was the flagship in the Falklands Task Force despite being so much older than the brand new HMS Invincible.

Hermes was sold to India in 1987, along with British Sea Harrier jets. It became the INS Viraat – which translates as “giant”.

Viraat is now set to become relegated to the history books as she prepares to sail for a final time – powered by her own boilers – from Mumbai to Kochi.

Viraat will embark on her final journey this weekend when it leaves for southern India and reach Kochi on July 27, where she will be berthed with the Southern Naval Command, an Indian naval officer said.

There are plans to decommission Viraat later this year, possibly in November. Thereafter, the fate of the 226.5-metre-long warship is unknown. The Indian ministry of defence has called for proposals from several coastal states to convert Viraat into a tourism pad but no concrete plans have been put forward.