And despite work being greatly sped up, the war was won before she could be finished.
HMS Illustrious did perform a useful service in the aftermath of the Falklands War.
She was the fifth warship and the second aircraft carrier to have the name Illustrious.
The crew of HMS Illustrious knew her by the affectionate nickname Lusty.
In the 1990s she was deployed to Iraq for Operation Southern Watch and Bosnia for Operation Deny Flight.
Then in 2000 HMS Illustrious was deployed to Sierra Leone for Operation Palliser.
After 32 years’ service, she was formally decommissioned on 28 August 2014 but she wasn’t replaced until HMS Queen Elizabeth's commissioning in 2017.
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25. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
Piper Larry Cunningham plays his bagpipes as Britain's last serving aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious is towed from her home port at Portsmouth after being sold for scrap on December 7, 2016 in Portsmouth,. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Photo: The News archive
26. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
HMS Illustrious, a light aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy, and affectionately known as 'Lusty', is towed out of Portsmouth Harbour in Portsmouth, southern England on December 7, 2016, on her last journey to Turkey where she has been sold for scrap.. Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images Photo: The News archive
27. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
Crew members disembark HMS Illustrious at Portsmouth Harbour on January 10, 2014 in Portsmouth. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photo: The News archive
28. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
The crew of HMS Illustrious wave as she arrived into Portsmouth Harbour on January 10, 2014 in Portsmouth. The ship returned with her 650 crew after a five month deployment to South East Asia delivering Aid relief to victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Image Photo: The News archive