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Cheers, Union flags and tears of joy greeted the Royal Navy's flagship Ark Royal as she arrived home to the UK. A crowd of up to 3,000 packed the jetty of Portsmouth's naval base to give the crew a heroes' welcome. * A flypast of military helicopters and a military band heralded their arrival. The mighty aircraft carrier sailed from Portsmouth on January 11, leading Britain's largest maritime task-force since the Falklands War. The Ark Royal was due to head a long-planned Naval Task Group deployment to the Gulf and Asia Pacific regions, but was later tasked to Operation Telic in the Gulf. (Photo by Tim Ockenden - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)