HMS Invincible - Definition and Overview

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 Lützow, with the loss of 1,026 crew. Only 6 crew members survived.

• The sixth and current Invincible is a light aircraft carrier, the first of three in the Invincible class.