I am a great believer in preserving our countries heritage, the major events like WW I & II for definite as they involved significant loss over many years, as for vessels, a lot of good vessels were lost to the scrap yards even after major events that pushed them to the fore - it seems there achievements were not enough to help keep the vessels.
Victory - kept and is still much revered, Warrior - not so revered but a good attraction on the same site, Belfast - a decent attraction in the middle of London, easily accessible from a tourist point of view, other vessels including Submarines, less visited, either due to there remoteness or the fact they are not a advertised or well known, like the Sub on the opposite shore to the naval yard at Portsmouth.
As for Hermes - Yes, historically an event in our history, though luckily one that didn't mean the loss of as many as in the WW's (any loss is regrettable), worth keeping - not really, as many have stated, unless it is with other vessels , say at the naval yard with Victory, Warrior and M1, or close to Belfast, there would be little incentive for tourists to venture to see her, it would probably take a day at least to traipse around her, she would have to have a variety of aircraft on the top deck as well so would be compared to the New York attraction and special events every day to allow for the upkeep, even if the IWM were to use her as another site, with permanent displays charting the periods in history over her lifespan, i.e. Post war, Cold war and after service with the RN and Indian navy, would that be a profitable option, unlikely.
If Portsmouth with its other basins near by could be freed up to put a large vessel into a dry dock, then I would think that the chance of it being worthwhile is slim, I would like to see all naval vessels types rescued, but the hard fact is unless its going to pay for itself then let it go, the really worthwhile vessels have already gone to the scrap yard, only the Americans saved their heritage, but that's under threat now.
My view and I support others points of view regarding the saving or disposing of naval vessels based on being non biased