Former HMS Illustrious departs Portsmouth harbor, December 7, 2016. Photo: Royal Navy
The Royal Navy’s former aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious left Portsmouth for the last time on Thursday following a career spanning 32 years and more than 900,000 nautical miles.
With the aid of tugs, Illustrious set sail for a ship breaking facility in Turkey where it will be dismantled.
Photo: Royal Navy
The second of the Navy’s three Invincible-class aircraft carriers, Illustrious was built by Swan Hunter shipbuilders on the Tyne and launched by Princess Margaret in December 1978. The 22,000-tonne Illustrious was commissioned in 1982 after completing a successful mission during Falklands War. During its service the ship took part in a range of operations until 2014, including evacuating Britons from the Lebanon in 2006 and delivering humanitarian aid after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in 2013.
HMS Illustrious taking over from HMS Invincible (background) in the Falklands Task Group. Photo: Royal Navy
The Illustrious will now be recycled by Leyal Ship Recycling Ltd following a two-year open competition seeking to retain part of all of the ship for heritage purposes in the UK. While a number of bids were received, at the end none proved viable.
The departure of Illustrious from Portsmouth makes way for the arrival of the Royal Navy’s biggest ever warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, sometime next year.
The US economy contracted at the start of the year for the first time since 2022 on a monumental pre-tariffs import surge and more moderate consumer spending, a first snapshot of the ripple effects from President Donald Trump’s trade policy.
President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught has roiled Washington and Wall Street for nearly a month. If the trade war persists, the next upheaval will hit much closer to home.
Apple AAPL.O plans to shift the assembly of all iPhones sold in the U.S. to India as early as next year, pivoting away from China to avoid steep tariffs, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
April 25, 2025
Total Views: 937
Get The Industry’s Go-To News
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
— just like 109,170 professionals
Secure Your Spot
on the gCaptain Crew
Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news, delivered daily straight to your inbox
— trusted by our 109,170 members
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.