HMS Ark Royal (R07)
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| Image:Ark royal r07.600px.jpg Ark Royal in Greenwich dock, London | |
| Career | Image:RN-White-Ensign.svg |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | December 1978 |
| Laid down: | 14 December 1978 |
| Launched: | 2 June 1981 |
| Commissioned: | 1 November 1985 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Extended refit as of 2005 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 20,600 tons |
| Length: | 210 m (689 ft) |
| Beam: | 36 m (118 ft) |
| Draught: | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
| Propulsion & power: | 4 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines, 112,000 shp 2 shafts 8 Paxman Valenta diesel generators. |
| Speed: | 30+ knots |
| Range: | 5000 miles at 18 knots |
| Complement: | 685 crew, 366 Fleet Air Arm |
| Armament: | 3 × Mark 15 Phalanx CIWS 2 × GAM-B01 20mm guns |
| Aircraft: | Sea Harrier fighter/bombers Sea King helicopters |
| Motto: | Zeal Does Not Rest |
HMS Ark Royal (R07), the last Invincible-class light aircraft carrier, is the current flagship of the Royal Navy. She is the fifth ship of the Royal Navy named in honour of the flagship of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada.
Her keel was laid by Swan Hunter at Wallsend on 7 December 1978. She was launched on 20 June 1981 sponsored by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and commissioned on 1 November 1985. Her name was originally intended to be Indomitable to be similar with her sister ships (HMS Invincible and HMS Illustrious), but public resentment at the scrapping of the previous Ark Royal (Britain's last large aircraft carrier) in 1980, led the Royal Navy to announce that her name would be revived on the new ship.
Ark Royal is slightly larger than her sister ships and during construction she was fitted with a steeper ski-jump ramp, (twelve degrees, as opposed to seven degrees of the Invincible) to improve STOVL take-off performance for the Harrier aircraft.
In May 1999 Ark Royal put into Rosyth for refitting, which included the removal of the Sea Dart missiles and covering over of the foredeck to allow for an enlarged deck park for aircraft. She recommissioned in 2001.
Ark Royal, commanded by Captain Alan Massey, took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq where her complement consisted of helicopters rather than her usual mix of helicopters and Harrier aircraft. During operations in the war two Westland Sea King helicopters, from No. 849 NAS, collided in mid-air with the loss of six British and one American lives. In April, 2004 Ark Royal entered into extended readiness where she is envisaged to remain until 2006.
Ark Royal is expected to remain in service until 2015, at which time she will be replaced with the second of the Royal Navy future carriers. These new vessels are expected to displace three times that of the Invincible class and offer a step change in operational capability.
See HMS Ark Royal for other ships of the same name.
External links
| Invincible-class aircraft carrier |
| Invincible | Illustrious | Ark Royal |
| List of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy |