SJ3390 : Merlin Helicopter aboard H.M.S. Illustrious
taken 12 years ago, near to Seacombe, Wirral, England
The pod beneath the cockpit is a Blue Kestrel radar.
HMS Illustrious is the second of three Invincible-class light aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and is affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty".
Following the retirement of her fixed-wing Harrier II aircraft in 2010, Illustrious now operates as one of two Royal Navy helicopter carriers carrying up to 22 helicopters, including Chinook, Apache, Merlin, Lynx and Sea King.
She is the oldest ship in the Royal Navy's active fleet and it is envisaged that she will be withdrawn from service in 2014 (after 32 years' service) and will not be replaced until HMS Queen Elizabeth is commissioned in 2016. The UK Ministry of Defence announced on 10 September 2012 that once she is decommissioned, Illustrious will be preserved for the nation.
Factual detail :-
Pennant R06
Displacement 22,000 Tonnes
Complement 685 Personnel + 366 Fleet Air Arm
Length 210 Metres
Beam 36 Metres
Draught 7.6 Metres
Propulsion: 4 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines providing 97,000 hp (75 MW) and 8 Paxman Valenta diesel generators
Top Speed 30 Knots, 18 knots cruising
Range (Nautical) 5,000 Miles
Launch Date 14/12/78
Commissioned Date 20/06/82
- Grid Square
- SJ3390, 1556 images (more nearby 🔍)
- Photographer
- Richard Hoare (more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Saturday, 16 February, 2013 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Tuesday, 19 February, 2013
- Subject Location
-
OSGB36:
SJ 3360 9062 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:24.4919N 3:0.0187W - Camera Location
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OSGB36:
- View Direction
- East-southeast (about 112 degrees)