HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, headed out of Rosyth this week for her first sea trials, but there is still a great deal of affection for her predecessor HMS Ark Royal.
This picture, from June 1981, shows the launch of the Ark Royal on the Tyne, but she paid many visits to Scottish shipyards too. In 2005, she underwent a major refit at Rosyth, equipping her with a third mast to accommodate a modern satellite and radio communications system.
Five years later, Ark Royal was back in Scotland for a much sadder reason when she spent five days at Glen Mallan jetty on Loch Long in Argyll having 40,000 tons of weaponry removed before being scrapped as part of defence cuts.
Speaking to The Herald ahead of her final voyage out of Scotland, the crew of Ark Royal spoke of their sadness.
Able Rates Kelly Innes, 18, from Banff, and Colette Cunningham, 18, from Glenrothes, said they had fallen in love with the vessel and Ms Innes was upset she had found out the bad news about her fate from the television. "We were watching the TV in our mess and the news came on and we got a very big shock. We wondered if we were still going to have a job."
Ms Cunningham added: "When they say this ship has to go, it's like taking away my home."
Asked whether a foreign leader with his eyes on British territory might consider the next few years a good time to strike, Commander Dan Ferris said: "I would suggest it might be an opportunity." The UK will be without an aircraft carrier for several more years yet - HMS Queen Elizabth will not be ready for operations until 2021.
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