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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21. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
A Sea King helicopter rests on the flight deck of HMS Illustrious when it was docked in Greenwich on May 10, 2013. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photo: The News archive
22. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
Crew member AB Tobias Fairall patrols the flight deck of HMS Illustrious May 10, 2013. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photo: The News archive
23. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
The 22,000 tonne ship, whose service started in 1982 in the aftermath of the Falklands War and saw deployments in Bosnia and Sierra Leone, was affectionately known as 'Lusty' and will be broken up for scrap in Turkey despite attempts last minute attempts to save her. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Photo: The News archvie
24. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious
People watching 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