HMS Illustrious

Survived

Type	Aircraft carrier
Class	Illustrious
War	Second World War
Main guns	16 × 4.5″ guns in 8 twin mounts

The first of the armoured-deck carriers. Her Swordfish crippled the Italian battle fleet at Taranto. In January 1941 German dive bombers hit her six times; her armoured deck saved her.

Format: Fotopositiv Dato / Date: ca. 1954 Fotograf / Photographer: Ukjent Sted / Place: Ukjent - til sjøs Wikipedia: HMS Illustrious (87) Eier / Owner Institution: Trondheim byarkiv, The Municipal Archives of Trondheim Arkivreferanse / Archive reference: Tor.H49.B03.F28726 Merknad: Samme bilde er gj Photo: Municipal Archives of Trondheim from Trondheim, Norway, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

8 × twin 4.5 in (114 mm) dual-purpose guns
6 × octuple 2-pdr (40 mm) AA guns

Armour

Waterline belt: 4.5 in (114 mm)
Flight deck: 3 in (76 mm)
Hangar sides and ends: 4.5 in (114 mm)

Builder	Vickers-Armstrongs
Laid down	27 April 1937
Launched	5 April 1939
Commissioned	25 May 1940
Displacement	23,000 long tons (23,369 t) (standard)
Length	740 ft (225.6 m) (o/a) 710 ft (216.4 m) (waterline)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	1,299

As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.

Career

Launched

5 April 1939

Battle of Taranto

Survived

11–12 November 1940

Launched 21 Swordfish; two lost

Fate

Survived

Sold for scrap, November 1956