HMS Invincible

Six ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Invincible.

• The first Invincible[?] was originally the French 74-gun ship of the line L'Invincible, captured off Cape Finisterre in 1747.

• The second Invincible[?] was also a 74-gun ship, launched in 1765 and lost in a wreck 1801.

• The third Invincible[?] was still another 74, launched in 1808, paid off in 1814, and broken up in 1861.

• The fourth Invincible[?] was an armored "broadside battleship" built in 1869.

• The fifth Invincible[?] was a battlecruiser of the First World War attached to the 1st Cruiser Squadron[?], Home Fleet[?] at the end of 1908. She saw action at Heligoland, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and the Battle of Jutland, where she blew up and sank after taking a hit from SMS Lutzow[?], with the loss of 1,026 crew. Only 6 crew members survived.

Armament: Eight 12-inch guns in pairs and sixteen 4-inch guns. One 3 inch anti aircraft gun in 1915 and from 1916 two 4 inch Anti Aircraft Guns.

• The sixth and current Invincible is a light aircraft carrier, the first of three in the Invincible class. She was built at Barrow-in-Furness[?] by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering. She was laid down in 1973, and launched on 3 May 1977.

External links

• MoD page (http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/1470)
• Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier Information (http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/invincible/index)