On 11 November 1967, after the completion of the 1967 refit and shortly before the start of what was intended as the ship's final commission, there was a relatively small fire, which was rapidly extinguished, in the chief petty officers' mess (resulting in one death and two hospitalisations).
Although damage was relatively minor, the fire coincided with a reduction of the defence budget and a manpower shortage for the Royal Navy.
Together with the 1966 decision to phase out fixed-wing naval aviation, it was decided at very short notice not to recommission Victorious.
Her captain was told of this just one day before the scheduled recommissioning ceremony.
The ceremony was held by the ship's crew anyway as a "wake" for the ship.
 She was paid off in 1968 and placed on the Disposal List in 1969.
She was sold later that year to British Shipbreakers and towed on 13 July 1969 to Faslane Naval Base, where she was broken up.

During her service, HMS Victorious had been deployed in most parts of the world.
On 11 November 1967, after the completion of the 1967 refit and shortly before the start of what was intended as the ship's final commission, there was a relatively small fire, which was rapidly extinguished, in the chief petty officers' mess (resulting in one death and two hospitalisations). Although damage was relatively minor, the fire coincided with a reduction of the defence budget and a manpower shortage for the Royal Navy. Together with the 1966 decision to phase out fixed-wing naval aviation, it was decided at very short notice not to recommission Victorious. Her captain was told of this just one day before the scheduled recommissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held by the ship's crew anyway as a "wake" for the ship.  She was paid off in 1968 and placed on the Disposal List in 1969. She was sold later that year to British Shipbreakers and towed on 13 July 1969 to Faslane Naval Base, where she was broken up.
During her service, HMS Victorious had been deployed in most parts of the world.
HMS Victorious (R38)