HMS Invincible (R05)
HMS Invincible was the Royal Navy’s lead ship of the three light aircraft carriers in her class. She was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She was originally designated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, but was used as an aircraft carrier during the Falklands War, when she was deployed with HMS Hermes. She took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Second Gulf War (Iraq War). In 2005, she was decommissioned, and was eventually sold for scrap to the Turkish company Leyal Ship Recycling in February 2011.
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type: | Invincible-class aircraft carrier |
Tonnage: | 16,000 tonnes (light) |
Displacement: | 22,000 long tons (22,000 t) fully loaded |
Length: | 689 ft (210 m) |
Beam: | 118.1 ft (36.0 m) |
Draught: | 28.9 ft (8.8 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: | 7,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (13,000 km at 33 km/h) |
Complement: | 1,051 total, including 726 ship’s company and 384 Air Group personnel |
Armament: | 3 × Goalkeeper CIWS 2 × GAM-B01 20 mm close-range guns |
Aircraft carried: | Until December 2010, 22 aircraft;Multi Mission – Strike, ASuW and ASW12 x Harrier GR.7/910 x Sea King ASaC and Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters Multi Mission – Strike and ASuW 18 x Harrier GR.7/94 x Sea King ASaC and Merlin HM Mk.1 helicopters |