HMS Ark Royal
Encyclopedia
Five ships of the Royal Navy
have borne the name HMS Ark Royal:
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
have borne the name HMS Ark Royal:
- Ark Royal (1587), the flagship of the EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
fleet during the Spanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
campaign of 1588., merchant ship, converted to an aircraft carrier during World War I, British aircraft carrierAircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
launched in 1937 that participated in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was sunk by a U-boat in 1941., an Audacious-class fleet aircraft carrierAudacious class aircraft carrierThe Audacious class aircraft carriers were a class of ship proposed by the British government in the 1930s - 1940s.- History :The Audacious class was originally designed as an expansion of the Implacable class with double storied hangars...
launched in 1950, decommissioned in 1979, an Invincible-class aircraft carrierInvincible class aircraft carrierThe Invincible class is a class of light aircraft carrier operated by the British Royal Navy. Three ships were constructed, , and . The vessels were built as aviation-capable anti-submarine warfare platforms to counter the Cold War North Atlantic Soviet submarine threat, and initially embarked...
, launched in 1981, decommissioned in 2011