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Originally Posted by Abraham
She was conceived in the period that the 'vintage' WW II carriers were withdraw and the word "Carrier" was taboo withing the British Government and the Labour party at large. Their first design was called Through Deck Cruisers, as opposed to HMS Tiger, a cruiser converted to carry Wessex helicopters in a aft hangar. Had they been called "carrier" at that time they would have died on the drawing board
At that time the Royal Navy still had two carriers, HMS Victorious and HMS Hermes.
The Victorious was retired and the Hermes converted to a helicopter carrier. The fighter aircraft (Phantoms II) and strike aircarft (Buccaneers) of the Fleet Air Arm were incorporated in the Royal Air Force.
The Harrier and the invention of the "Sky Jump" (upward angled deck) saved the carriers of/for/in the RN...
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When the Invincible class was in design stage the Royal Navy had infact four carriers available , the two fleet carriers Eagle and Ark Royal and two commando carriers Hermes and Bulwark which had been layed down as light fleet carriers during WWII.
By the time HMS Invincible was operational the two fleet carriers had been payed off along with Bulwark while Hermes had been converted to the ASW role which included the fitting of a ski jump so making Hermes one of the "Harrier carriers".