Ark Royal – rare pictures of the symbol of Britain’s maritime might

5th June 1987: British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal moored at Greenwich, London. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

It is a name synonymous more than perhaps any other with Britain’s maritime heritage, and today’s collection of rarely-seen pictures from the archive charts just a few of the dates on its monumental timeline.

There has been not one Ark Royal but five, spanning more than four centuries. The first – the flagship of the English fleet during the Spanish Armada campaign of 1588 – predated photography, but its successors belonged to the 20th century.

It was the third in the line, HMS Ark Royal 91, that burned the name into the national consciousness. Launched in 1937, and watched by a huge crowd at the Cammell Laird yard in Birknehead, she was the first aircraft carrier on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull.