HMS Invincible was the Royal Navy's lead ship of her class of three light aircraft carriers. She was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She was originally designated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, but was used as an aircraft carrier during the Falklands War, when she was deployed with . She took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Iraq War. During the Falklands Conflict, Argentinian media reported Invincible as sunk on several occasions. In 2005, she was decommissioned and was eventually sold for scrap in February 2011.
Design
As built, Invincible was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of at the waterline and at flight deck level, and a draught of at full load. Displacement was standard and full load. The ship was powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus TBM3 gas turbines, with a maximum total continuous power of . These drove two propeller shafts via reversible gearboxes, giving a maximum speed of . The ship had a range of at . The ship had a design air wing of ten Westland Sea King anti-submarine helicopters and eight British Aerospace Sea Harrier STOVL jet fighters. A Type 1022 long-range air-search radar was mounted above the ship's bridge, with Type 909 fire control directors for the Sea Dart system mounted at the fore and aft end of the ship's superstructure. A Type 992 air-surface search radar was mounted on the ship's mainmast, while a Type 1006 navigation radar was also fitted. Type 184 medium-range sonar was also fitted.