HMS Illustrious (R06)

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See HMS Illustrious for other ships of the same name.

Career United Kingdom

Ordered:	14 May 1976
Builder:	Swan Hunter
Laid down:	7 October 1976
Launched:	1 December 1981
Commissioned:	20 June 1982
Status:	Active in service as of 2007
Homeport:	HMNB Portsmouth
General characteristics
Displacement:	20,600 tons
Length:	194 m
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:	28 knots (52 km/h), 18 knots (33 km/h) cruising
Range:	5,000 miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement:	685 crew 366 Fleet Air Arm
Armament:	3 × Goalkeeper CIWS 2 × GAM-B01 20 mm close-range guns
Aircraft carried:	Sea Harrier FA.2, Harrier GR.7 fighter/bombers; Sea King ASaC, Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters
Motto:	Vox Non Incerta (Latin: "No Uncertain Voice")
Nickname:	Lusty
Notes:	Pennant = R06

The fifth HMS Illustrious (R06) is an Invincible-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, affectionately known as 'Lusty' to her crew.

1 Construction
2 Refits
3 Operations
4 Remembrance Day 2006
5 Gallery
6 Affiliations
7 References
8 External links

She was laid down at Swan Hunter on the River Tyne in 1976, and launched in 1981. As the ship neared the end of its fitting out period, the Falklands War broke out. As a consequence, work on Illustrious was greatly sped up. The war was won before Illustrious could be finished, but she did perform a useful service in the aftermath. Until the RAF airfield on the Falkland Islands was repaired, an aircraft carrier was required on station to protect the area from possible Argentine attack. Invincible had been on station for many months when Illustrious steamed to its relief. However, Illustrious was needed so quickly that the ship was actually commissioned underway. After the RAF airfield was repaired, Illustrious returned to the UK for a full shakedown cruise and workup period, with a formal commissioning on 20 March 1983.

The ship saw no further action during the remainder of the decade, but continued to be a valuable asset for the Royal Navy in showing the flag and participating in exercises all around the world. During those years, the ship received several enhancements during refits, including a ski-jump with a steeper angle to enable the Harriers in the air wing to takeoff with a larger payload. During an 'Extended Defect and Maintenance Period', numerous modifications were made to the ship including the removal of her Sea Dart missile defences at a cost of twelve million pounds. This allowed for extra deck space that enables her to carry up to 22 aircraft, including the Harrier GR.7.

In mid-2003, the ship entered a further refit at Rosyth Dockyard. This refit involved the total rebuild of the ski jump, the adding of better communications and reconfiguring the ship so that it can be more quickly switched between the light aircraft carrier and helicopter carrier roles. The refit should enable her to carry on until 2014, when it is expected that the first of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers will come into service. Illustrious returned to Portsmouth following the completion of the refit in December 2004.

During the 1990s, the main task of the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy was helping to maintain the no-fly zone over Bosnia during that war there. All three of the navy's carriers rotated through the area.

In 2000 she took part in the Operation Palliser the aim of which was to restore peace and stability to Sierra Leone in which she led a naval task force comprising HM ships - Ocean, Argyll, Iron Duke, Chatham and numerous RFA ships.

A notable combat deployment for the ship took place in late 2001. A large British exercise, Saif Sareea II took place in Oman in the autumn of 2001. During the exercise, the World Trade Center was destroyed by Al Qaida. Illustrious remained in theatre while other elements of the task force returned to the United Kingdom. Illustrious had elements of the Royal Marines on board, ready for possible combat operations in Afghanistan. No deployment was made before Illustrious was relieved by Ocean in early 2002.

HMS Illustrious along with HMS Gloucester helped in the evacuation of British Citizens from Beirut as a result of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis

As part of the Royal Navy's activities to remember the Navy in both the World Wars, and current wars, HMS Illustrious sailed up the River Thames on Friday 10 November 2006. She was moored at Wood Wharf, a few hundred yards upriver from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, until Wednesday 15 November.

Illustrious and the American USS John C. Stennis	Illustrious docked at Bergen, Norway	Illustrious docked at Grand Harbour, Malta, 2005	Illustrious from the Portsmouth docks, July 2005
Illustrious from the water, Portsmouth July 2005	Illustrious in Tallinn, Estonia, 2007