HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier, the last Invincible-class light aircraft carrier to be completed, is the fifth ship of the Royal Navy named in honour of the flagship of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier 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.| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Invincible class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 20,600 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: | Harrier GR.7/9 Strike aircraft Sea King ASaC Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters |
In May 1999 HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier 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 was recommissioned in 2001.
In April 2004, HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier entered into extended readiness, following which she entered refit with the return to service of Illustrious. HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier completed an extensive refit in August 2006 and returned to Portsmouth, her home port, to rejoin the fleet on 28 October 2006 where she underwent 10 weeks of training and sea trials. Ark Royal will be utilised as an LPH, replacing Ocean while she undergoes refit. On 16 November 2006 a British Army WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter landed on Ark Royal for the first time marking an increase in the carriers capability. On 22 March 2007, HMS Ark Royal was returned to the Royal Navy Fleet after a two-year refit worth £18 million. As of May 2007, she once again became the Fleet Flagship, reclaiming the title from her sister ship, Illustrious, which had been Flagship since the end of her refit in 2005.
In January the Ark Royal first visited Liverpool and then she returned to the River Tyne, where she was built. Her voyage from Portsmouth to Liverpool was made with 108 Cadets from the Sea Cadet Corps and the Combined Cadet Force embarked.
HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier, commanded by Captain Alan Massey (Now Vice Admiral and Second Sea Lord), took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq where her complement singularly consisted of helicopters rather than her usual mix of helicopters and Harrier aircraft. During operations in the war two Westland Sea King helicopters, from 849 Naval Air Squadron, collided in mid-air with the loss of one American and six British lives.
HMS Ark Royal (R07) Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier is expected to remain in service until 2016, at which time she will be replaced with HMS Prince of Wales. This new vessel is expected to displace three times that of the Invincible class and offer a steep change in operational capability.
