Illustrious at Portsmouth on the evening of 31 July 1987. The pillar visible at the starboard aft corner of the quarter deck is the lower part of additional structure added (at the rush and possibly over-cautiously!) to carry recoil forces from the Phalanx fitted on the flight deck. The remainder of the structure, fitted internally, included a similar pillar through the middle of the XO’s cabin – leading to an adjacent cabin being also co-opted for the XO’s use, giving him a day cabin and sleeping cabin. The pillar on the quarter deck was still there on Illustrious’ final visit to the river in 2012 despite the Phalanx subsequently being replaced by Goalkeeper on a sponson on the port quarter – I’ve often wondered whether the pillar was ever removed from the XO’s cabin!
Regards, Dennis.