To this end, she was brought forward by three months for completion at Swan Hunter Shipyard, then commissioned on 20 June 1982 at sea en route to Portsmouth Dockyard to take on board extra stores and crew.

Following the retirement of her fixed-wing British Aerospace Harrier II aircraft in 2010, Illustrious operated as one of two Royal Navy helicopter carriers.

After 32 years' service, the oldest ship in the Royal Navy's active fleet was formally decommissioned on 28 August 2014 even though she would not be replaced until HMS Queen Elizabeth's commissioning in 2017.

Despite the UK Ministry of Defence's announcement in 2012 that, once decommissioned, Illustrious would be preserved for the nation, in 2016 she was sold and towed to Turkish company Leyal for scrapping.

Illustrious, the second of the three Invincible-class aircraft carriers, was laid down at Swan Hunter on the River Tyne on 7 October 1976 and launched by Princess Margaret on 1 December 1978.

Rear Admiral Derek Reffell, Flag Officer, Third Flotilla, commanded the relief task group from Illustrious during this period.

After the RAF airfield was repaired, Illustrious returned to the UK for a full shakedown cruise and workup period, and was formally commissioned on 20 March 1983.

The carrier saw no further action during the remainder of the 1980s, but continued to be a valuable asset for the Royal Navy in showing the flag and participating in exercises all around the world.

During those years, the ship received several enhancements during refits, including a steeper ski-jump to enable the Harriers in the air wing to take-off with a larger payload.

During an 'Extended Dockyard Assisted Maintenance Period (EDAMP)', numerous modifications were made to the ship including the removal of her Sea Dart missile defences at a cost of twelve million pounds.

Additional vessels including the destroyer HMS Nottingham and Ferry Sea Leopard were in attendance, however Illustrious crew managed to extinguish the fire and she returned to Portsmouth under her own power provided by her aft engine room.

In due course once repairs were completed Illustrious sailed directly to the Far East arriving at Singapore to resume the Eastern end of the Global 86 deployment.

Later that year, as part of the Royal Navy's Remembrance Day activities, Illustrious sailed up the River Thames on Friday 10 November 2006.

She was moored at Wood Wharf, a few hundred yards upriver from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, until Wednesday 15 November.

[12] Illustrious carried out two weeks of fixed wing flying serials exercises in the North Sea 20 miles (32 km) off Hartlepool in March 2007, during which seven GR9 Harriers from No.

[13] Also during these exercises, seven of her crew had to be airlifted to hospital in Middlesbrough on 13 March suffering from fume inhalation and throat and eye irritation after an accident with chemicals in cleaning a junior ratings' toilet area.

[15] Next, in July 2007, Illustrious took part in a US-led Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFX) off the eastern coast of the United States (for which she hosted 14 US Harrier jets and 200 US Marines) before returning to Portsmouth the following month.

[24][25] This documentary aimed to show life on board the aging carrier in much the same way that HMS Ark Royal was shown in the 1976 series Sailor.

[34] In May 2013, as part of the 70th Anniversary of The Battle of the Atlantic Commemorations, Illustrious sailed up the River Thames and was moored at Greenwich where she was used as the venue for a charity reception in aid of the Royal Navy's aviation heritage.

[36] She was diverted away from the COUGAR 13 task group in December 2013 to assist in Typhoon Haiyan disaster relief efforts in the Philippines[37] and eventually returned to Portsmouth on 10 January 2014.