HMS Illustrious takes final bow

HMS Illustrious – the last of the Royal Navy’s Invincible-class aircraft carriers – was decommissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base on August 28, marking the end of her 32-year career.
The ship’s White Ensign was lowered for the final time during the decommissioning ceremony in front of hundreds of guests, ending an era which began with the launch of her sister ship HMS Invincible in 1977.
Illustrious is being replaced as the nation’s helicopter carrier by HMS Ocean which has just undergone refit. She will eventually be replaced by two new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers being built for the Navy – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
royalnavy

HMS Illustrious to make final entry to Portsmouth to be decommisioned

The Royal Navy’s last Invincible-class aircraft carrier will make her final entry to Portsmouth on Tuesday.
HMS Illustrious will return home for the final time next week, the navy has now confirmed.
The helicopter carrier is now ready for decommissioning.
portsmouth

Royal Navy buys back Ark Royal parts for HMS Illustrious

The UK Ministry of Defence has justified the decision to buy back parts from former Royal Navy HMS Ark Royal.
Spare parts of Ark Royal, which was sold two years to a Turkish scrapyard, had to be shipped back to Portsmouth to replace sections of HMS Illustrious.
The sister ship suffered a small fire while on deployment off the coast of Somalia last August.
After the fire, it was realised there were no replacements parts for the damaged radio switchboard and the surrounding cabinet. But it was revealed that Ark Royal, which will be recycled into tin cans, had the same equipment fitted.
The fee for the parts have not been released by the Ministry of Defence.
portsmouth

La flotilla británica zarpa hacia el Mediterráneo/ Royal Navy taskforce sets sail ahead of Gibraltar visit

El portahelicópteros de la Armada británica HMS Illustrious ha abandonado este lunes a las 10.30 la base naval de Portsmouth, en el sur de Inglaterra despedido por efusivas muestras de entusiasmo. El buque ha zarpado cuando Londres acaba de anunciar acciones legales "sin precedentes" contra España por el conflicto entre ambos países por Gibraltar. El buque de guerra y hasta nueve embarcaciones más navegarán por el Mediterráneo durante los próximos días hasta llegar al golfo Pérsico, donde realizarán unos ejercicios militares. Se espera que las fragatas Westminster y Montrose zarpen el martes, junto con el resto de buques. Atracarán en Gibraltar el próximo día 18, mientras que la nave insignia lo hará en Rota (Cádiz).
elpais
elmundo
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A Royal Navy deployment, which will include a stop at Gibraltar, will leave UK ports over the next few days, amid tensions between Spain and the UK.
A warship is due to dock at the British territory within a week, a deployment described by the MoD as "long-planned".
It comes as increased vehicle checks at the Spanish border have led to delays.
The Spanish government said it is considering taking the dispute to the UN Security Council where it could seek the support of Argentina.
A spokesman told the BBC that although the Falkland Islands - over which Britain went to war with Argentina - and Gibraltar were different issues, there were similarities between the two disputes.
The MoD says a number of Royal Navy warships and vessels from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are setting sail over the next few days for the annual deployment of the Response Force Task Group.
The group includes HMS Bulwark, HMS Illustrious, HMS Montrose and HMS Westminster. Helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious departed from Portsmouth on Monday morning and will join the navy flagship HMS Bulwark, which has sailed from Devonport.
HMS Westminster will be stopping over in Gibraltar, accompanied by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay.
One of the other warships will visit the Spanish Rota naval base, which is near the Strait of Gibraltar in south-west Spain.
bbc

British navy warships to visit Gibraltar amid diplomatic row

Britain has said a rapid reaction force of warships will visit Gibraltar on its way to naval exercises in the Mediterranean, even as the fierce diplomatic row over the disputed territory looked set to continue.
The Navy’s force led by HMS Illustrious and including two frigates will sail for the Mediterranean on Monday at the start of a four-month deployment.
Three ships including the frigate HMS Westminster are due to stop later this month in the port amid a standoff with Madrid over punitive border checks for visitors to Gibraltar.
The visit was announced two days after Gibraltar’s chief minister demanded that warships be sent to stop Spanish incursions into the Rock's territorial waters. On Thursday, Fabian Picardo told The Telegraph the territory would be delighted to welcome the Royal Navy.
telegraph

HMS Illustrious visits Malta

HMS Illustrious has arrived at the Mediterranean island of Malta for a five-day visit.

More than 1,500 sailors and marines lined the deck of the Portsmouth-based helicopter carrier as she entered the port of Valletta.
mod.uk

British and Albanian navies work together in the Adriatic

A major two-week exercise involving British and Albanian naval forces in the western Balkans ended with Albania's President, His Excellency Mr Bujar Nishani, visiting HMS Illustrious.

mod.uk

Royal Navy's Merlin HM2 helicopter clears carrier trials

Flight test activities with the Royal Navy's upgraded AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin HM2 multi-mission helicopter have passed an initial 10-sortie campaign performed from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

lear more

HMS Illustrious heading to Med for war games

Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious will leave Portsmouth on Monday for a major show of strength in the Mediterranean.

Seven navy helicopters will land on the 22,000-tonne warship early in the morning before she sets sail at 1.30pm.

learn more

MOD sets out future of Invincible Class carriers

HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal came into service in the early 1980s and have spent the last thirty years protecting the UK's interests across the world. The last of the ships to be decommissioned, HMS Illustrious, is due to retire from the Royal Navy in 2014 and the MOD is announcing the intention to seek proposals from organisations interested in preserving her as a lasting tribute to the work of the Invincible Class, which have played key roles in conflicts in the Falkland Islands, Iraq and Bosnia. HMS Invincible was decommissioned in 2005 and later recycled. The 31-year-old HMS Ark Royal was withdrawn from service last year, following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. The MOD can announce today that she will also be recycled as part of a £2.9m deal with Leyal, the same company responsible for recycling Invincible in 2011. Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne said: "It is important that we preserve the legacy of the Royal Navy's Invincible Class aircraft carriers. When the last of these - HMS Illustrious - retires from the Royal Navy, we would like to see her preserved as a legacy to the work she, Invincible and Ark Royal have done to protect the UK over three decades." learn more