HMS Ark Royal (R09) was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1978, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier.

HMS ARK ROYAL -  Mersey 70'S

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The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09) and the U.S. Navy carrier USS Independence (CVA-62), foreground, operating as Task Force 401 during NATO exercise "Royal Knight" in the North Atlantic.

A Royal Navy McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 from 892 Naval Air Squadron aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09). The frigate in the background is possibly HMS Tenby (F65) or HMS Berwick (F115).

An aerial view of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09) tied up at piers at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia (USA), maybe between 14 and 21 August 1978. Note: The photo may have been taken in 1975 when Ark Royal was having her catapults repaired. Also, Nimitz was having extensive flight deck work in 1978. In the National Archives description, the left hand carrier is wrongly identified as HMS Hermes (R12) on 26 June 1987.

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09) dressed overall and manning ship with the U.S. Navy carrier USS Saratoga (CVA-60) in the background during the International Naval Review at Hampton Roads, Virgina (USA), in May 1957.

HMS Ark Royal seen in the late fifties, showing her appearance as completed by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, in 1955. She served in the Mediterranean, East of Suez and Home waters until 1979 and in the following year was sold for scrap. Organization: Royal Navy

 She was the Royal Navy's first aircraft carrier to be equipped with an angled flight deck.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(R09)

 

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