A frank account of life on the ocean wave in one of Her Majesty's ships.
A series of ten programmes
2:The Squadrons are Coming
A day out from Plymouth, and steaming into the Western Approaches, the last of the fixed-wing carriers prepares to take on her strike-force complement of Phantoms, Buccaneers, Sea Kings and Gannets, which are her shield and her sword.
From the air the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal looks tiny, and some of the young pilots have never before touched down on a real aircraft carrier ...
Photography PATRICK TURLEY Producer JOHN PURDIE