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Ex - HMS Illustrious (R06) (Portsmouth)

United Kingdom / England / Portsmouth
 military, navy, aircraft carrier

The second member of the Invincible Class of Aircraft Carriers built for the Royal Navy, HMS Illustrious was laid down at the Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear Shipyard on 7 October 1976 and commissioned into Royal Navy service on 20 June 1982. Commissioned at sea due to a pressing need for her services during the Falklands War, the Illustrious arrived onscene after the end of hostilities but would continue to operate in the South Atlantic as the sole platform for British air operations in theater until the completion of battle damage repairs and expansion of RAF Stanley allowed land-based aircraft to operate from the Falklands.

Returning to the UK and engaging in routine deployments and exercises for the next decade, the Illustrious was very nearly destroyed by a gearbox failure and major fire while at sea in 1986, and was out of operation for nearly two years under repair and refit. Returning to combat operations as part of the NATO task force intervening in the Yugoslavian Civil Wars, she lent her airwings to Operation Deny Flight and Operation Deliberate Force in the 1993-1995 period, and also participated in supporting the No Fly Zone over Southern Iraq in the late 1990's as part of Operation Southern Watch/Operation Bolton.

Given an extensive refit beginning in 2003 aimed at keeping the vessel in service through the mid-2010's, Illustrious continued to participate in routine deployments and exercises throughout the final years of her career, though the termination of the Royal Navy's use of the Harrier Jump Jet left the ship without a fixed airwing in 2010. Reviewed and approved to be converted to a dedicated helicopter carrier, the Illustrious went through her final refit before rejoining the fleet in May 2011. Participating in two final major exercises in 2012 and 2013, the Illustrious returned to England in time for the naming ceremony of the future HMS Queen Elizabeth before reporting to Portsmouth where she decommissioned on on 28 August 2014. Though the Royal Navy intended to set Illustrious aside for preservation as a museum ship and several municipalities expressed interest in accommodating the ship, she was sold for scrap to Leyal Shipbreaking in Aliaga, Turkey in August of 2016. The ship departed Southampton for the final time under tow on 7 December 2016.

www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/p...
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Coordinates:   50°48'31"N   1°5'49"W
This article was last modified 7 years ago