Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R06)
(AlfvanBeem Photo)
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R06), Port of Amsterdam, 02Mar2009
HMS Illustrious was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as “Lusty”. In 1982, the conflict in the Falklands necessitated that Illustrious be completed and rushed south to join her sister ship HMS Invincible and the veteran carrier HMS Hermes. To this end, she was brought forward by three months for completion at Swan Hunter Shipyard, then commissioned on 20 June 1982 at sea en route to Portsmouth Dockyard to take on board extra stores and crew. She arrived in the Falklands to relieve Invincible on 28 August 1982 in a steam past. Returning to the United Kingdom, she was not formally commissioned into the fleet until 20 March 1983. After her South Atlantic deployment, she was deployed on Operation Southern Watch in Iraq, then Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia during the 1990s and Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone in 2000. An extensive re-fit during 2002 prevented her from involvement in the 2003 Iraq War, but she was returned to service in time to assist British citizens trapped by the 2006 Lebanon War.
Following the retirement of her fixed-wing British Aerospace Harrier II aircraft in 2010, Illustrious operated as one of two Royal Navy helicopter carriers. After 32 years’ service, the oldest ship in the Royal Navy’s active fleet was formally decommissioned on 28 August 2014 even though she would not be replaced until HMS Queen Elizabeth’s commissioning in 2017. Despite the UK Ministry of Defence’s announcement in 2012 that, once decommissioned, Illustrious would be preserved for the nation, in 2016 she was sold and towed to Turkish company Leyal for scrapping. (Wikipedia)
(Royal Navy Photo)
HMS Illustrious (R06) entering Malta, 1995. Probably during her deployment to Bosnia.
(LA(PHOT) Martin Carney/MOD Photo)
HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwark (foreground) are pictured near Harstad, Norway during Exercise Cold Response. Organization: ROYAL NAVY Object Name: BW120060251 Category: MOD Supplemental Categories: Equipment, Ships, Carriers, Assault Keywords: Cold Response, Harstad, Aerial, Surface Ship, Assault Ship, Arctic Ocean, Bulwark, Illustrious, Royal Navy, Equipment, Ship, Aircraft Carrier, Carrier, CVS, Invincible Class, HMS Illustrious, Landing Platform Dock, LPD, HMS Bulwark, Norway.
(Brendan and Ruth McCartney Photo)
HMS Illustrious departing Portsmouth, 3 November 2008.
(Brian Burnell Photo)
Invincible class aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious southbound in Southampton Water on 31 July 2011, leading the contestants in the 2011- 2012 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race to the start line off Cowes, Isle of Wight
(LA(Phot) Spencer Allen/MOD Photo)
United States Marine Corps (USMC) AV8B Harriers conduct fixed wing work on HMS Illustrious ahead of Operation Bold Step. At the rear of the flight deck, an Osprey MV-22 aircraft can just be seen. AV8B Harrier Jets from the United States Marine Corps (USMC) Combined Marine Harrier Force have begun a fixed wing work up period on board HMS Illustrious ahead of the US-led Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFX), Operation Bold Step. The AV8B Jets are on board ILLUSTRIOUS as part of a coalition exercise taking part between the US Navy, USMC and the Royal Navy. The goal of the exercise is to demonstrate allied interoperability and the expeditionary capabilities of Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing aircraft. This exercise marks the first time that an American aviation unit of this scale has been embarked aboard a foreign warship and for the British it is the largest ever embarkation of foreign jets in a UK aircraft carrier. The Jets have been practising ship-borne operations, a skill which is extremely challenging and requires exacting standards from both the pilots and the crew of the 22,500 tonne warship. The principle aim is to qualify in day CVS operations; although air combat, electronic warfare training and day combat ready work-up sorties will also be conducted as part of the USMC’s participation for the JTFX. For the Ship’s Air Department it has proved to be an excellent training opportunity, with aircraft handlers, Air Traffic and Fighter Controllers, and the air safety organisation all playing a part in the safe and successful embarkation of the squadron. The Flight Deck Officer, Lt Jon Llewellyn said “Having the Combined Harrier Force on board for this period has provided excellent training and regeneration opportunities for the Flight Deck teams, integrating with the USMC and building the tempo of the deck safely and efficiently. Having the AV8B jets on board has been a pleasure!” Organization: ROYAL NAVY Object Name: 04129079 Category: na Keywords: Joint Task Force Exercise, United States Marine Corps (USMC), AV8B Harrier Jets, HMS Illustrious, Aircraft Carrier, CVS, Operation Bold Step.
LA(PHOT) Joel Rouse/MOD
HMS Illustrious (R06) during Exercise Cougar 12 in the Mediterranean Sea.
(PO(Phot) Ray Jones/MOD Photo)
Merlin helicopters from 814 Naval Air Squadron are pictured onboard HMS Illustrious during Exercise Joint Warrior near Scotland. 814 Naval Air Squadron – better known throughout the Navy as the Flying Tigers (hence their striking badge) – flies from ships and air bases around the world shielding the Fleet from submarines. They also take it in turns with their sister squadron 820 to support the international effort against illegal activities on the high seas east of Suez – that’s piracy, people-trafficking, smuggling, drug-running and terrorism. 814 NAS also deploys with Britain’s on-call aircraft carrier to practise their key role: submarine hunting.
(LA (PHOT) Billy Bunting/MOD Photo)
Royal Navy Harrier GR7 of 1 Squadron RAF taking part in Deck Operations on-board HMS Illustrious. Here a Harrier GR7 is shown landing on the flight deck, with some Sea Harrier FA2 in the background.
(USN Photo)
British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R 06) steams alongside the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) (left), in the Persian Gulf on April 9, 1998. The two ships are operating in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, which is the U.S. and coalition enforcement of the no-fly-zone over Southern Iraq.