HMS Ark Royal (R07)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	Ark Royal
Namesake:	HMS Ark Royal
Ordered:	December 1978
Builder:	Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Laid down:	14 December 1978
Launched:	2 June 1981
Sponsored by:	Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Commissioned:	1 November 1985
Decommissioned:	11 March 2011
Refit:	First Major 1999-2001, Second Major 2004-2007
Homeport:	HMNB Portsmouth
Motto:	Zeal Does Not Rest
Nickname(s):	The Mighty Ark
Honours and awards:	Al Faw 2003
Status:	Scrapped in June 2013 Turkey
Notes:	Pennant number: R07 International Callsign: GCDG
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Invincible-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	22,000 tons
Length:	210 m (689 ft)
Beam:	36 m
Draught:	7.5 m
Propulsion:	4 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines providing 97,000 hp (75 MW) 8 Paxman Valenta diesel generators.
Speed:	30+ knots,
Range:	5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement:	685 crew 366 Fleet Air Arm
Armament:	3 × Mark 15 Phalanx CIWS 2 × GAM-B01 20 mm guns
Aircraft carried:	Until December 2010, 22 aircraft; Multi Mission - Strike, ASuW and ASW 12 x Harrier GR.7/9 10 x Sea King ASaC and Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters Multi Mission - Strike and ASuW 18 x Harrier GR.7/9 4 x Sea King ASaC and Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters

HMS Ark Royal was a light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of Invincible-class. She was built by Swan Hunter on the River Tyne and launched by them in 1981. Ark Royal was named by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She followed sister ships HMS Invincible and HMS Illustrious into service in 1985.

Affectionately known as The Mighty Ark, she is the fifth Royal Navy ship to have borne the name of the 1587 flagship that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. Originally intended to be named Indomitable to match the rest of the class, this was changed due to the public reaction to the loss of the Ark Royal name after the scrapping of the previous Ark Royal in 1980, after 30 years' service.

Slightly larger than her sister ships, and with a steeper ski-jump ramp, Ark Royal carried the STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing) Harrier Jump Jet aircraft, as well as various helicopters. With a crew complement of over 1,000 sailors and aviators, she saw active service in the 1990s Bosnian War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Originally due to be retired in 2016, Ark Royal was instead decommissioned on Friday 11 March 2011, as part of the Navy restructuring portion of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. After Ark Royal's decommissioning HMS Albion replaced her as the Royal Navy flagship.Ark Royal was sold for scrap to the Turkish company Leyal Ship Recycling and left Portsmouth in May 2013.

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