HMS Illustrious
There have been five ships in the
Royal Navy to bear the proud name
Illustrious, and as her name suggests, she and her predecessors have had an illustrious history. The ship's motto is "Vox Non Incerta" which translates as "No Uncertain Voice".
*The first
Illustrious was a 74-gun
Third-rate, and launched at Buckler's Hard in
1789. She had two engagements against the
French Navy. The first was off the southern French city of
Toulon in
1793 during the British action to capture the city. The second was at
Genoa where she suffered severe damage and won a Battle Honour. While returning home in tow for much needed repairs from that battle, she ran aground, due to an incredibly violent
storm. Shortly afterwards, she was set ablaze and duly abandoned.
*The second
Illustrious was launched at
Rotherhithe in
1803 and was like her predecessor a 74-gun
Third-rate . Though she did not serve in the historic
Battle of Trafalgar her career was a very successful one. She was involved in battles off
Basque Roads, in which she won a Battle Honour, and off
Java in
Indonesia. In
1854, she became a training ship and continued as one until she was broken up in
1868 in
Portsmouth.
*The third
Illustrious was a
Majestic-class pre-dreadnought, launched in
1896 and scrapped in
1920. Two of her 12" guns were remounted in the
Tyne Turrets*The fourth
Illustrious was an
aircraft carrier commissioned in
1940, the year she became the first carrier to strike against an enemy fleet, and was in service until
1954.
*The fifth
Illustrious is an
aircraft carrier launched in
1981 and on active service
as of 2006.
Genoa 1795,
Basque Roads 1809,
Taranto 1940,
Mediterranean 1940-41,
Malta Convoys 1941,
Diago Suarez 1942,
Salerno 1943,
Sabang 1944,
Palembang 1945,
Okinawa 1945
