HMS Ark Royal was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1979, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraf
HMS Ark Royal with Phantom FG1 and Buccaneer S2 aircraft on deck, 1976
Ark in the late 1950s, before the port deck-edge lift was removed
Ark Royal in 1957; a further four years passed before she commenced her sea trials.
Ark Royal (background) operating with USS Independence (foreground) in the North Atlantic, 1971
HMS Eagle was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, in service 1951–1972. Until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in the 21st century, she and her sister Ark
HMS Ark Royal (R09)
…arrested-landing aircraft carrier. She was the first aircraft carrier to be equipped with an angled flight deck at its commissioning; her sister ship, HMS Eagle, was the Royal Navy's first angle-decked aircraft carrier after modification in 1954. Ark Royal was the only non-United States vessel to operate the…
HMS Eagle at flying stations in the Mediterranean, January 1970
Whirlwinds fly off Eagle in the late 1950s, before her rebuild
At Portsmouth's South Railway Jetty after the 1964 rebuild, with remodelled island
HMS Eagle moored in Gibraltar in January 1970