RN Fleet Carriers: CVA-01, CVA-02 Well before the actual Queen Elizabeth class, the CVA-01 remains the greatest “what-if” of British Cold War History, as far as ships are concerned. She was the most ambitious aircraft carrier project in Europe, a 63,000 tonnes, 890 ft or 270m CATOBAR (Fully Loaded) that would have been the first … Read more
Royal Navy 3 Light Aircraft Carriers built 1973-85: HMS Invincible, Illustrious, Ark Royal R05-07 (decommissioned 2011-2017). The Invincible class was a class of light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Navy, with three ordered and built, HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal. They were defined as aviation-capable ASW platforms to counter Soviet submarines … Read more
Fleet Aircraft Carrier (R09), 1943-1979 This was the last great, true fleet British aircraft carrier, and perhaps the best of them all before it was decided to retire her. The smaller HMS Hermes had a longer career, sure, but she was the only British carrier large enough to operate the capable, multirole F4 Phantom II. … Read more
