THE Ark Royal is one of the oldest names in the Royal Navy with a distinguished history that began with Sir Walter Raleigh.

The first Ark was a 690-ton galleon. It was originally ordered by Sir Walter (hence its original name of Ark Raleigh) and later purchased by the Crown for service in the Royal Navy.

Sir Walter, who owed the Queen a small fortune, handed over the ship in return for a £5,000 reduction in his debts.

The ship was commissioned in 1587 and served as the flagship of the English fleet during the battle with the Spanish Armada.

Renamed the Anne Royal, it remained in service until 1636 when it suffered an accident and sank in the River Medway.

The second Ark Royal was the first Royal Navy ship to be completed as an aircraft carrier.

A former tramp steamer built in Blyth, the vessel was hastily converted to carry aircraft on the slipway prior to its completion in 1914.

It served in both world wars and was sold in December 1946 when work began to convert it into a merchant ship.

But the job was never finished and it was broken up for scrap in 1950.

The third Ark had the most tragic history.

Its design was unusual in that it incorporated hangars where aircraft could be stored when non-operational – a feature that was copied on every other subsequent carrier.

Completed in November 1938, it was torpedoed on November 13, 1941, by a German submarine and sank the following day. The loss of the ship was a national disaster, especially as there had been efforts to tow the stricken vessel to safe harbour in Gibraltar.

An inquiry decided that too many sailors had abandoned the listing carrier and the lack of back-up power made damage control impossible.

The fourth Ark is arguably the most famous British warship of all, thanks in-part to its starring role in a BBC documentary series.

Launched in 1950, it was the first carrier to feature an angled flight deck and remains the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, displacing almost 50,000 tons. When its replacement was cancelled in 1966, the Ark was subsequently updated and soldiered on into the Seventies.

The decision to take it out of service in 1978 was one of the reasons why Argentina began planning an invasion of the Falklands.

The current Ark was built by Swan Hunter on Tyneside and is currently the largest ship in the Royal Navy.

Originally conceived as a “through-deck cruiser” to avoid being called an aircraft carrier at a time when the description was anathema to the MoD, the 20,000-ton Ark is too small to operate any fixed wing aircraft other than Harrier jump jets.

Region welcomes carriers decision

INDUSTRY leaders and MPs welcomed a decision not to cancel a contract to build two new aircraft carriers which are being partly constructed by North-East companies.

Hundreds of manufacturing jobs have been safeguarded after the Government shelved plans to scupper the £5.2bn aircraft carrier building programme.

It appears that pressure from the Royal Navy has saved the super carrier programme.

Firms from this region participating in the aircraft carrier programme include Hertel Technical Services, formerly McGill Services, in Billingham, which has been manufacturing living quarters for the two aircraft carriers as part of a £27.4m contract.

Shipbuilders A&P Tyne, based in Hebburn, South Tyneside, also won a contract to build the mid-sections, including the flight decks and other steel work for the carriers, providing work up to 2015 for its 210-strong workforce.

Three more North-East firms were awarded contracts worth a total of £233m at the turn of the year.

They are AEI Cables, based in Birtley, near Chester-le- Street, and Imtech Marine and Offshore, of Hebburn, which will provide cabling and climate technology systems respectively.

Ship Support Services, part owned by Pyeroy, in Gateshead, is also responsible for painting the ships with a protective coating.

While Bonds Foundry of Tow Law produced half a million castings for the ships.

Robin Fox, managing director of Northern Defence Industries, which represents scores of defence contractors across the region, said keeping the carriers was good news for industries across the UK, not just shipbuilding.

North-West Durham Pat Glass MP said it was “difficult to make sense of the decision”

to mothball one of the aircraft carriers.

However, she added: “In terms of jobs in the North- East we are grateful for what we can get at the moment.”