eBay

December 29, 2003 6:06 PM

Who wants to own an aircraft carrier? Possibly the best geek gift ever, if you're Bill Gates or someone. Note especially the *category*...
posted by baylink (19 comments total)

Spotted at Boing Boing -- does anyone know why that site is occasionally replaced by a full page sunflower graphic that's a link to Plastic.com?
posted by baylink at 6:09 PM on December 29, 2003

My birthday is Jan 22 ... I'm just sayin'
posted by ElvisJesus at 6:24 PM on December 29, 2003

5 people have bid on it so far..
posted by SisterHavana at 6:44 PM on December 29, 2003

Ok kids, I say we take this show on the road. MetaFilter on the High Seas!
posted by dejah420 at 7:53 PM on December 29, 2003

This is (was) HMS Vengence. She's the ship on which the Japanese signed the surrender of Hong Kong during WWII, and there's an appeal to try and save her and turn her into a museum/memorial.
posted by zedbends at 8:07 PM on December 29, 2003

HMS Vengeance (also known as the Argentine Navy's Minas Gerais) displaced abt 14 - 17k tons. Just for comparison purposes, an Essex class US fast carrier of similar vintage displaced about 10k tons more, while a modern Nimitz bird farm displaces around 102k tons.
posted by alumshubby at 8:15 PM on December 29, 2003

also known as the Argentine Navy's Minas Gerais

Actually Brazilian.
posted by MiG at 9:04 PM on December 29, 2003

Hopefully, no one named 'L. Bob Rife' is going to bid. We don't have a metaverse set up yet. </snowcrash>
posted by SpecialK at 9:28 PM on December 29, 2003

That's one teeny-tiny CVA.
posted by adamgreenfield at 9:46 PM on December 29, 2003

Purchase it. Load up with party-goers at 2-grand a pop. Take it out to international waters, and have one big-ass mofo house party on deck. I'm sure someone could make it profitable.
posted by Jimbob at 9:50 PM on December 29, 2003

Baylink: I think you're seeing Carl's site. He runs Plastic, and apparently hosts BoingBoing.
posted by bshort at 9:54 PM on December 29, 2003

The Russians have sold a couple of decommissioned carriers to concerns in China. The Minsk became a Shenzhen theme park called Minsk World, and last year China also completed the sale of a larger, newer carrier called the Kiev went to Tianjin and became a floating casino. Some ultra-suspicious China watchers were concerned about the People's Liberation Army Navy (yes, that's its real name) jumpstarting a carrier program, especially when an uncompleted hulk from the last days of the Soviet era, the Varyag, was finally sold to another Chinese firm and allowed to pass through the Bosporus [photo]after tense negotiations. (The evidence at this date seems to indicate that capitalism is, indeed, trumping militarism.)

Meanwhile, who's actually buying an ex-Soviet carrier to be retrofitted ... as an aircraft carrier? India's navy, that's who. Non-superpower navies actually have quite a bit of "slightly shot at" ships.
posted by dhartung at 10:18 PM on December 29, 2003

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15...
posted by nthdegx at 12:16 AM on December 30, 2003

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15...

How Many Pepsi Points Do I Need To Get One Of These?
posted by Dreamghost at 1:17 AM on December 30, 2003

Well, I do need somewhere to park my F15...

Better place that puppy aboard with a pierside crane - the landing gear's definitely not up to an arrested landing like Navy aircraft are.
posted by alumshubby at 4:52 AM on December 30, 2003

I was expecting some sort of technical retort, although I predicted it would be the prohibitive length of an older carrier. Maybe that isn't the case. :/
posted by nthdegx at 5:55 AM on December 30, 2003

Shouldn't we all pitch in a couple o' bucks and secede from the union? Metafilter World? Much better than Sealand.

I hereby announce my candidacy for lifetime resident DJ of the new country.
posted by Dantien at 7:07 AM on December 30, 2003

Dantien: sure! at the current bid price of $6 mil, divided by the # of metafilter users, that's only $349.45 each. For a spot on an aircraft carrier!
posted by reverendX at 10:00 AM on December 30, 2003

Sold!

Can we stock that new MetaCarrier™ with domesticated penguins?
posted by troutfishing at 10:57 PM on December 30, 2003