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Invincible class aircraft carrier

HMS Invincible During T200 Celebrations MOD 45144681.jpg
Class overview
Name: Invincible class
Builders:
Operators:  Royal Navy
Preceded by:
Succeeded by: Queen Elizabeth class
In commission: 11 July 1980 - 28 August 2014
Completed: 3
Scrapped: 3
General characteristics
Type: Aircraft carrier
Displacement: 22,000 tonnes
Length: 209 m (686 ft)
Beam: 36 m (118 ft)
Draught: 8 m (26 ft)
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) maximum
  • 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) cruising
Range: 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at cruising speed
Troops: Up to 500 Marines
Complement: 650 ships company, 350 air crew
Armament:
Aircraft carried:
Aviation facilities:
  • 168 m (551 ft) axial flight deck
  • Bow 13° ski-jump
Notes:

The Invincible class was a class of light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Navy. Three ships were constructed, HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal. The vessels were built as aviation-capable anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms to counter the Cold War North Atlantic Soviet submarine threat, and initially embarked Sea Harrier aircraft and Sea King HAS.1 anti-submarine helicopters. With cancellation of the aircraft carriers renewal program in the 1960s, the three ships became the replacements for Ark Royal and Eagle fleet carriers and the Centaur-class light fleet carriers, and the Royal Navy's sole class of aircraft carrier.

The three vessels have seen active service in a number of locations, including the South Atlantic during the Falklands War, the Adriatic during the Bosnian War, and in the Middle East for the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Invincible was decommissioned in 2005 and put in reserve in a low state of readiness. She was sold to a Turkish scrapyard in February 2011, and left Portsmouth under tow on 24 March 2011. Pursuant to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, 2010, Ark Royal followed, decommissioning on 13 March 2011. This left Illustrious as the sole remaining ship, serving as a helicopter carrier from 2011 to 2014 when it was decommissioned as well. After Invincible was decommissioned in 2005, and with the retiring of Illustrious in 2014, Royal Navy aircraft carrier usage has temporarily ceased. However, it will restart with the commissioning of the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, the first of which was launched in July 2014.


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