HMS Ark Royal

Deck letter R. Laid down as HMS Irresistible she was renamed Ark Royal prior to launching. Her sister ship, HMS Eagle, was originally to be called Audacious, hence the class name of Audacious. The remaining two of the proposed class were cancelled at the end of the war. She was the first British aircraft carrier to be completed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults, as opposed to having them fitted after completion. She was decommissioned on 14th February 1979 and was eventually scrapped at Cairnryan, arriving in September 1980.

(This information supplied by Tony Sheppey) Eagle was broken up at Cairnryan. I served on Eagle during 1971 - 1972 during her last commission and on retiring from the Royal Navy shortly afterwards moved to Northern Ireland and took employment with the Shipbuilder Harland and Wolff, which was where Eagle was built. So there was a good deal of interest by myself and my shipyard colleagues when Eagle was finally towed to Cairnryan, on the Scottish shore just upposite Larne. I well remember seeing Eagle at various stages of her dismantling on occasions when travelling between Larne and Stranraer and Cairnryan and thinking what a sad site it is to see a ship being broken up.

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HMS Ark Royal Photos Submitted to the Forum

Articles about this ship... :

Known Crew Details :

Name

Start of Service

End of Service

Known Date

James Tate Bryce

4th February 1964

23rd March 1967

0th 0

Timeline Entries :

HMS Ark Royal Artwork Collection
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