Ships · United Kingdom · 1940-1945
Illustrious-class fleet carrier
fleet aircraft carrier
Built with an armoured flight deck that traded aircraft capacity for survivability, the four Illustrious-class carriers were among the most important British warships of the war. Illustrious's aircraft struck the Italian fleet at anchor in the Taranto raid of November 1940, Formidable and Victorious fought through the Mediterranean and the hunt for the Bismarck, and all three surviving ships later joined the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.
| displacement | 23,000 long tons (standard) |
|---|---|
| aircraft | 36-57 |
| speed | 30.5 knots |
| built | 4 |
Mediterranean and North Africa, Battle of the Atlantic, Pacific
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