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HMS Ark Royal
This brand new to Discovery UK series follows the Royal Navy’s famous flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal on her final mission. Find out more here.
Ark Royal named in honour of the galleon that led England to defeat the Spanish Armada is now facing her own death sentence. Though no-one yet knows it, this will be her last international deployment.
In this preview clip, we take a look behind the scenes at the Ark Royal, the flagship of the Royal Navy as it undertakes its final deployment before being decommissioned.
For many of the one thousand-crew aboard the Ark this is their first time away from home. It turns out to be a dramatic mission as the Ark sits at the helm of an international task force of ships, code-named Auriga across the Atlantic Ocean, in one of the largest ever peacetime naval deployments.
It began on 6 April 2010 as Ark Royal left Portsmouth. Due to cross the Atlantic to join up with her international task force assembling at Norfolk in Virginia, USA the biggest naval base on earth. But the Ark was diverted almost immediately to lead Operation Cunningham as the Icelandic volcanic eruption disrupted travel plans for millions of people all over the world.
Ordered by Gordon Brown, then Prime Minister, to sail to Spain to pick-up stranded British passengers. For a short period, HMS Ark Royal was effectively the UK’s only operational airstrip - and then she was diverted again - this time to a dry dock in Portsmouth where marine engineers had to patch up a leak in her 25 year-old hull.
This is the first time a documentary team has filmed aboard HMS Ark Royal on an international deployment since the epic TV series in 1976 Sailor, one of the first observational documentary series to be made, which was shot aboard the previous Ark Royal.
Once she was repaired, Ark steamed to Norfolk in Virginia following the quickest way, the Great Circle route which meant she had to navigate through the iceberg hazards that sank the Titanic.
The series captured the ship’s participation in the International Fleet Review where HM Queen took the salute to mark the centenary of the Canadian Navy. And the film crew are present when some very important persons visit the vessel, including David Cameron only weeks after he was elected the nation’s new Prime Minister.
All the hardware and aircraft that make up The Ark’s huge arsenal are featured during series including the weaponry, ammunition, radar and helicopters, especially the Lynx, Sea King and Merlin. There is even appearance by the legendary US Osprey aircraft.
The following clip shows The HMS Ark Royal carried the Harrier and 3 types of helicopter during its active service, these included the Lynx which is currently the fastest helicopter in the world and the Sea King, equipped with an early warning radar system.
As the deployment comes to an end the pilots fly back to the UK. But what they don’t know is this was the very last time they flew their Harriers from Ark Royal. As this series was being filmed government plans were underway to decommission this legendary aircraft.
The future for all Harrier pilots is now uncertain and so is that of HMS Ark Royal herself.
See the first episode of HMS Ark Royal on Discovery UK on Tuesday 22 February at 10pm.
Related links:
- More on HMS Ark Royal Machines
- Take the Frontline Battle Machines quiz
- Watch Frontline Battle Machines videos
Getting rid of harriers Ark Royal is a bad move as we will find out to late
Posted by: Phil Platt | 02/15/2011 at 02:19 AM
getting rid is the worst idea i have every heared wot planet is the gov. on ( not this one)
Posted by: joanne blanchard | 02/15/2011 at 09:10 AM
I was on the ship during the shooting i hope they show us in a good light no clever editing but the film crew were really friendly and shot some good stuff
Posted by: Martin Duck | 02/15/2011 at 07:56 PM
I wad commissioned twice by the F.A.A., to complete two paintings of Ark Royal operating the Sea Harrier, the first was entitled "Arks Angels", visit my website www.aviationartstudio.co.uk to see both it and "Defenders of the Fleet" which was commissioned to mark the demise of the Sea Harrier fleet.
Posted by: eddie ash | 02/17/2011 at 09:46 PM
We never learn from our own history never sell or scrap a carrier because when we do war soon follows
Posted by: Steve | 02/22/2011 at 07:16 PM
Was asked to pay a vist to this carrier and can see the need to continue her upkeep but we are in changed times are we not ......
Posted by: G | 02/23/2011 at 06:55 AM
Nice to see the vultures are circling to cash in on the demise of a proud ship and its ships company, adverts form artists ad scrap delears welcome!!!
Posted by: DEN | 02/23/2011 at 09:49 AM
~Who are these morons who are making decisions against our Navy, and saying we dont want ships and carriers. we shall soon have no defence system at all. is that what is needed. Sadly most of the Government have no idea about the Navy and few even know where Portsmouth or Plymouth is. Has Hitler won at last.....
Posted by: Sid Elbro (sails) | 02/23/2011 at 12:56 PM
When our national defence is at stake it should not be about money and economics. To scrap HMS Ark Royal before we have suitable replacement carriers in place is absolute sheer folly. Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa prove we need a carrier strike force both to protect our interests and humanitarian grounds and what if Argentina fancy their luck again in re-taking the Falklands? I am proud to say that I have been on Mighty Ark and proud and humble that my eldest son is a member of that crew which serve that famous ship and it's name.
Posted by: Ray Walter | 02/23/2011 at 07:16 PM
will I ever see another ARK ROYAL in my life time, its a waste, what is this goverment trying to do to our senior service, lets hope that we never have to deploy a task force like we did in the 80s, instead of scraping our ship, lets scrap the goverment
Posted by: dave | 02/23/2011 at 07:37 PM
I was at Cottesmore for the last flight of the Harriers. There were tears in the eyes of many tough guys. The whole business stinks!In the future our involvement worldwide is likely to be via skirmishes and rescues. which aircraft carrier and which aircraft are best suited to such environments. I don't see Tornadoes or Trident replacements doing the job at enormous cost over the next few years! The present crisis in the middle east has stranded enormous numbers of British People - Mr. Cameron has already apologised for the 'cockups'. A bit a forethought by his advisors would have obviated this!
Posted by: keith | 02/24/2011 at 05:41 PM
mr cameron and so called govenment, what on earth ru thinking and more fore what the hell ru doing by scrapping a ship with so much history and stories even ur granparents would slap ur faces and kick u over board. Its a lack of respect 2 a country but more so to the people who built and served on the ark. look at yourselves in the mirror while standin in your luxury mansions which we so kindly pay for and ask yourselves what the hell a u doing. u wouldn't swap your bullet proof cars for go kart would u. muppets.
Posted by: chris kibble | 02/27/2011 at 09:59 AM
It is sad to see the quality of some of the remarks here. Let's not forget that this country is broke - and, yes, a lot of that is to do with the bank crisis but it's much to do with the last government, too. We have to make cuts in defence because there is not sufficient money to pay; cut budgets at home still more would be the answer and the Left will protest, march, riot. HMS Ark Royal is 26 years old and would soon have been out of commission anyway. It's not ideal but we can't have a champagne defence budget on a beer income. I am not wholly happy with the Coalition's management of the defence review but drastic measures had to be taken. However, if the RAF were operated to the same harmony rules as the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, some 11,000 fewer people would be needed. That's one major defence saving but no one dares do anything, it seems, because of the Battle of Britain in 1940! Mad.
Posted by: Lester May | 03/02/2011 at 03:39 PM
To help the people of Japan could the Ark Royal be loaned as a temporary hospital/rescue base before it is decommissioned?
Posted by: Jim Sharp | 03/16/2011 at 09:42 AM
Firstly, I take my hat off to Lester May, who seems the only person here who takes in to account that the Ark is out of date, under powered and out performed. It is time for her to go and be replaced with something fresh. If this didnt happen, we would still have and Ark Royal made of wood and rope. She has served us well, just like many Arks before her and i have no doubt that her replacement who has the honour of wearing the title will do the same. Secondly, the scrapping of a ship has no relation to which political party is in seat at the time. Anybody in power with even the slightest education should be able to understand the need to modernise; further to this, decisions are often made by the leaving party and therefore fall upon the shoulders of the new government to carry out. So dont go having a go at 'mr cameron' as i think you will find that plans to decommission Ark Royal were put in place a while before any new political party took up residence in No. 10! Do try and use your head Kibble, it doesnt do England’s reputation any favours having comments made by the ill educated and before you try and come back with a quick witted response, beware of arguing over a subject i highly suspect you know little about.
Posted by: M Grant | 03/23/2011 at 12:06 AM
HMS Ark Royal was due to remain in commission for about three more years, so it is entirely the deicision of this Coalition government to pay her off.
Until a week before SDSR was avvounced in late Oct 2010, the carrier and Harrier were to remain in service and it was the Tornado that was to go. Apparently, in his final weeks of office, ACM Sir Jock Stirrup, the unwanted CDS whose extension was to be imminently curtailed by the government, convinced the PM that the loss of the Tornado would take the guts out of the RAF. It was not a decision based on the defence requirement.
To keep HMS Ark Royal and the Harrier force in service for the next four years would cost £402m (the cost of three/four Typhoons - £126m each for every one of the 160 ordered). The cost of keeping the older and unreliable Tornado is over twice the cost of the carrier/Harrier option.
The real issue is, of course, the utility of an aircraft carrier and carrier-borne aircraft, compared with land-based aircraft. The cost of the first Tornado strike on Libya was nearly £1m and it delivered just three missiles; the ships and submarines in the Med delivered 112 missile earlier the same day! Nine Tornado aircraft were supposed to fly on that strike, but six aircraft were unserviceable.
Never mind, a British carrier enters the Mediterranean on April Fool's Day: HMS Invincible is being towed by the tug Sirocco on her wat to a scrap yard in Turkey!
Lester May - Lt Cdr RN (retired): www.twitter.com/NavySpeak
Posted by: Lester May | 03/31/2011 at 01:26 PM
HMS Ark Royal was due to remain in commission for about three more years, so it is entirely the decision of this Coalition government to pay her off.
Until a week before SDSR was announced in late Oct 2010, the carrier and Harrier were to remain in service and it was the Tornado that was to go. Apparently, in his final weeks of office, ACM Sir Jock Stirrup, the unwanted CDS whose extension was to be imminently curtailed by the government, convinced the PM that the loss of the Tornado would take the guts out of the RAF. It was not a decision based on the defence requirement.
To keep HMS Ark Royal and the Harrier force in service for the next four years would cost £402m (the cost of three/four Typhoons - £126m each for every one of the 160 ordered). The cost of keeping the older and unreliable Tornado is over twice the cost of the carrier/Harrier option.
The real issue is, of course, the utility of an aircraft carrier and carrier-borne aircraft, compared with land-based aircraft. The cost of the first Tornado strike on Libya was nearly £1m and it delivered just three missiles; the ships and submarines in the Med delivered 112 missile earlier the same day! Nine Tornado aircraft were supposed to fly on that strike, but six aircraft were unserviceable.
Never mind, a British carrier enters the Mediterranean on April Fool's Day: HMS Invincible is being towed by the tug Sirocco on her way to a scrap yard in Turkey!
Lester May - Lt Cdr RN (retired): www.twitter.com/NavySpeak
Posted by: Lester May | 03/31/2011 at 01:29 PM
Congratulations to Lester May who again is spot on with his comments and completely contradicts M. Grant's reply who I suspect is showing his true blue colours with an unconvincing argument. The facts are exactly as Lester May has pointed out and whatever your political beliefs and as recent events have shown Britain should not have scrapped it's only strike carrier almost 10 years before we have another one and as far as the Harriers being out of date, how come the USA believe in the Harrier and have even made some good modifications and adjustments to an outstanding aircraft and as far as I am aware there is no current plans for another Ark Royal.
Posted by: Ray Walter | 04/10/2011 at 08:36 AM
This is a barmy idea and thankfully, I very much doubt if it could ever happen! The MOD needs to be very careful how it disposes of the 'Ark' , with ever increasing tensions in the South Atlantic they would be wise to keep her in a reserve staus or maintain her as a floating museum for all to enjoy.
Posted by: worldoftrade | 10/05/2011 at 10:36 AM
Pls let me know when this series of HMS Ark Royal ,dvd will be for sale, Tnks
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