The Spanish Navy is the second oldest naval force in the world (the first is the Portuguese). Founded in 1479, its history spans more than half a millennium.<\/p>\n
In all these years, the Spanish Armada has had powerful and impressive ships, but the largest of all is very recent. On March 10, 2008, the aircraft carrier \"Juan Carlos I\" L-61 was launched at the Navantia shipyard in Ferrol.<\/strong> Two and a half years later, on September 30, 2010, the ship was registered in the Official List of Navy Ships. With a length of 231 meters, a beam of 32 meters and a displacement of 26,000 tons she is the largest and heaviest ship that the Spanish Navy has operated in 544 years<\/strong>, and is also currently its flagship.<\/p>\n Those of us who have had the opportunity to visit the L-61 can attest that she is a huge ship, with two spacious decks as hangars<\/strong>, the upper one for aircraft (both helicopters and EAV-8B+ Harrier fighters II Plus) and the lower one for vehicles, with access to a floodable dock with room for four LCM-1E landing craft of 23.3 meters in length each. In addition, she has a hospital with two operating rooms and accommodation for its 243 crew members and 1,200 Marines<\/strong>, as well as various services on board.<\/p>\n If you want to get to know this ship a little better, today the Spanish Navy has published a 360\u00ba video in 4K format that shows the interior of the L-61<\/strong>, as well as the aircraft and vehicles that can operate from it. The video was probably recorded last year, since the SH-3D Sea King helicopters that the Spanish Navy decommissioned in June 2022<\/a>:<\/p>\n
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