There have been five ships in the Royal Navy to bear the proud name HMS Illustrious. The ship's motto is "Vox Non Incerta" which translates as "No Uncertain Voice".
The first HMS Illustrious was a 74-gun Third-rate, and launched at Buckler's Hard in 1789. She had two engagements against the French Navy. The first was off the southern French city of Toulon in 1793 during the British action to capture the city. The second was at Genoa where she suffered severe damage and won a Battle Honour. While returning home in tow for repairs she ran aground due to an extremely violent storm. Shortly afterwards she was set ablaze and abandoned.
The second HMS Illustrious was launched at Rotherhithe in 1803 and was like her predecessor a 74-gun Third-rate. Though she did not serve in the historic Battle of Trafalgar her career was very successful. She was involved in battles off Basque Roads, in which she won a Battle Honour, and off Java in Indonesia. In 1854 she became a training ship and continued as one until she was broken up in 1868 in Portsmouth.
This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.
