HMS Ark Royal (R09) Country: UK Type: Aircraft carrier Service: 1955 - 1978 Ordered: Mid 1942 Laid down: 3 May 1943 Launched: 3 May 1950 Commissioned: 25 February 1955 Decommissioned: December 1978 Struck: February 1979 Fate: Scrapped 1980

HMS Ark Royal (R09) was an aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy and the last conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier in service with the Royal Navy. She was the first aircraft carrier in the world to be commissioned with an angled flight deck.

Although starting out as an Audacious class aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal was extensively modified while under construction and is generally considered the only ship in her own class. Built by Cammell Laird, it was not until 1950 that she was finally launched, and her completion took 5 more years. When commissioned, she had a 5.5 degree (partially angled) flight deck, 2 steam catapults capable of launching aircraft weighing up to 30,000 pounds (14,000 kg), a deck-edge lift on the port side (the first British ship to be fitted with such a device) and the new mirror landing system. These innovations allowed aircraft to land and take off from the carrier at the same time. Her flight deck as built was 800 feet (240 m) long by 112 feet (34 m) wide.

The HMS Ark Royal entered service with the Royal Navy in 1955 but she saw no combat duty during her twenty-four years. The aircraft carrier was decommissioned on 14 February 1979 and sold for scrap in 1980.