Colossus class aircraft carrier - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier, commonly referred to as the British Light Fleet Carrier, was a light aircraft carrier

Light aircraft carrier

A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only ½ to ⅔ the size of a full-sized or "fleet" carrier.-History:In World War II, the...

design created by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and used by eight naval forces between 1944 and 2001. They were designed and constructed by civilian shipyards to serve as an intermediate step between the expensive, full-size fleet aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s and the cheap but limited-capability escort carriers.

Sixteen Light Fleet carriers were ordered, and all were laid down to the Colossus class design during 1942 and 1943. However, only eight were completed to this design; of these, four entered service before the end of the war, and none saw front line operations. Two more were fitted with maintenance and repair facilities instead of aircraft catapult

Aircraft catapult

An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...

s and arresting gear

Arresting gear

Arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is the name used for mechanical systems designed to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBAR aircraft carriers. Similar systems...

, and entered service as aircraft maintenance carriers. The final six were modified during construction to handle larger and faster aircraft, and were redesignated the Majestic class. These six ships were still under construction at the end of the war, and work was suspended; five were eventually completed (the last commissioning in 1961), but the sixth was dismantled for spare parts and scrap.

Although not completed in time to fight in World War II, the carriers in Royal Navy service participated in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

and the Suez Crisis

Suez Crisis

The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...

. During the latter, two Colossus class ships performed the first ship-based helicopter assault

Air assault

Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing aircraft—such as the helicopter—to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces...

in history. Four Colossuses and all five completed Majestics were sold to seven foreign nations: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, and the Netherlands. No Majestic was ever operated by the Royal Navy, and three ships served in three different naval forces during their careers. Foreign-operated Light Fleets took part in the Korean War, the First Indochina War

First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...

, the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, and the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

. With the exception of the Majestic class , which was preserved as a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

, all of the Light Fleet carriers were broken up for scrap

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

Design and construction

Experiences during the early part of World War II had demonstrated to the British that the Royal Navy needed access to defensive air cover for Allied fleets and convoys, which could only be provided by more aircraft carriers. In mid 1941, the Director of Naval Construction

Director of Naval Construction

The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....

was instructed to investigate how best to achieve this without the lengthy construction times normally associated with carriers. The options were to refit the surviving Hawkins class cruisers

Hawkins class cruiser

The Hawkins class was a class of five heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy designed in 1915 and constructed throughout the First World War. All ships were named after Elizabethan sea captains...

with flight decks and aviation facilities, convert additional merchant vessels and passenger liners into vessels similar to but more capable than previous merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys...

s, or create a new design for a cheap, lightly armed, and unarmoured ship similar to the Woolworth carriers.

In December 1941, it was decided that a new design was the best option. This ship was conceived as an intermediate step between the expensive fleet carriers and the limited-capability escort carriers, The design had to be as simple as possible so construction time was kept to a minimum and so more shipyards (particularly those with no naval construction experience) could be used. However, the ships had to be capable of operating in fleet actions. Originally designated the 'Intermediate Aircraft Carrier', the ships were reclassified as 'Light Fleet Carriers'. Because naval design staff were overworked, the carrier was primarily designed by shipbuilders at Vickers-Armstrong.

The Light Fleet design, completed at the start of 1942, was effectively a scaled-down Illustrious

Illustrious class aircraft carrier

The Illustrious class was a class of aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that were some of the most important British warships in World War II...

. Each carrier would displace

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

13,190 tons at standard load and 18,040 tons at full load, have a length of 680 feet (207.3 m) at the flight deck

Flight deck

The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...

and 695 feet (211.8 m) overall, a maximum beam of 80 feet (24.4 m), and a draught of 18 in 6 in (5.64 m) at standard displacement, and 23 in 6 in (7.16 m) at full load displacement. The hull was built to Lloyd's

Lloyd's Register

The Lloyd's Register Group is a maritime classification society and independent risk management organisation providing risk assessment and mitigation services and management systems certification. Historically, as Lloyd's Register of Shipping, it was a specifically maritime organisation...

specifications for merchant vessels from keel to maindeck, but incorporated better subdivision of compartments to reduce secondary damage by flooding.

The propulsion machinery was of a similar design to that used in cruisers—some of the steam turbines were sourced from cancelled cruisers. The machinery was arranged in two compartments (each containing two Admiralty 3-drum boilers and a Parsons geared turbine), which were staggered en echelon, with the starboard compartment forward of the port. These provided 40,000 shaft horsepower to two propeller shafts, driving the carriers at a maximum speed of 25 knots (13.6 m/s), with 15 knots (8.2 m/s) as the designated economical speed.

The carriers were intended to be 'disposable warships': to be scrapped and replaced at the end of World War II or within three years of entering service. However, all exceeded this planned service life, with one ship operating from 1945 to 2001.

Colossus class

Construction was approved by the Naval Board

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

in February 1942, with the first two ships, and , laid down in March. During 1942 and 1943, another fourteen Light Fleet carriers (named the Colossus class after the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

) were laid down under the 1942 Programme, to be constructed by eight British shipyards. Although it was originally planned that each Light Fleet would be ready for service in 21 months, modifications to the design saw the construction time increase to 27 months. Even with the omission of several important pieces of backup equipment, only two ships met this target.

The ships were launched from late 1943 onwards, and began to commission during 1944. However, the delays meant that only four ships were completed before the end of World War II, and only eight of the sixteen planned Light Fleets were completed as Colossus class carriers.

During operational service, the living conditions aboard the Colossus class ships were criticised, which resulted in the abolishment of hammocks in favour of fixed bunks and the introduction of centralised eating arrangements in later warship designs.

Maintenance carriers

The impracticality of shore-based repair establishments in the Far East and Pacific theatres of World War II saw a requirement for Aircraft Maintenance Carriers. Instead of building new ships from scratch, two under-construction Colossuses, and , were marked for conversion as they would enter service quicker, and could be converted back into operational aircraft carriers if required, a need which never arose. Both ships were completed before the end of the war, with Pioneer sailing to the Pacific in company with the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron, but neither ship saw active service.

As the ships were designed with the repair and transportation of aircraft in mind, much of the equipment required for carrier flight operations, including control facilities, arresting gear

Arresting gear

, and catapult

Aircraft catapult

, were not installed. This space was instead used for additional hangar room, repair and maintenance workshops, and system testing facilities.

Majestic class

The six remaining Light Fleet hulls were originally to be completed as Colossus class ships, but the rapid development of carrier-based aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons required modifications to the original design. The catapult, arrestor cables, and aircraft elevators had to be upgraded to handle faster and heavier aircraft, while the flight deck was reinforced. Improved weapons and radars were fitted, and equipment to perform replenishment at sea was installed. The modifications increased the full-load displacement by 1,500 tons, and the draught by 1 in 6 in (0.4572 m). This led to the six ships being reclassified as the Majestic class in September 1945. Five carriers were launched before the end of World War II, with the sixth launched in late September 1945.

Following the war's end, work on the Majestic class was suspended, then restored to a low-priority status, with the rate of work increasing as foreign nations purchased the ships. Two, Magnificent and Terrible entered service more-or-less as designed, but the next three were heavily upgraded with three British developments allowing the operation of large, fast, jet-propelled aircraft: the angled flight deck, the steam catapult, and the mirror landing aid. The sixth, Leviathan, was not completed. Work was suspended in May 1946, and plans to convert her into a commando carrier or missile cruiser, or sell her to a foreign buyer, fell through. During the 1950s, she was used as an accommodation ship, and in 1966, her boilers were removed and sold to the shipyard refitting the Colossus class for Argentine service. Leviathan was scrapped in May 1968. None of the completed Majestic class saw service in the Royal Navy.

In 1943, eight 'Improved Majestics' were planned, but developments in carrier aviation and the rapid obsolescence of the Light Fleets and the wartime armoured carriers required a larger and more capable design, which became the four-ship Centaur class

Centaur class aircraft carrier

The Centaur class of aircraft carriers of the British Royal Navy was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II.-Ships In Class:HMS Centaur...

Aircraft

In the original design, each ship was capable of carrying 41 aircraft. A redesign of the available parking area on the flight deck in March 1942 saw the ships' air group expanded to 24 Fairey Barracuda

Fairey Barracuda

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo- and dive bomber used during the Second World War, the first of its type used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to be fabricated entirely from metal. It was introduced as a replacement for the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore biplanes...

torpedo bombers and 24 Supermarine Seafire

Supermarine Seafire

The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.-Origins of the Seafire:...

fighters, or 18 Barracudas and 34 Seafires. In RN service, the Barracuda was later replaced by the Fairey Firefly

Fairey Firefly

The Fairey Firefly was a British Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm ....

, and the Seafire was superseded by the Hawker Sea Fury

Hawker Sea Fury

The Hawker Sea Fury was a British fighter aircraft developed for the Royal Navy by Hawker during the Second World War. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, it was also one of the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built.-Origins:The Hawker Fury was an...

during the Korean War

Korean War

. Early in their careers, and were fitted out for night flying operations: these carriers were to embark a 32-strong air group; mixed between Fireflies and Grumman F6F Hellcats supplied by the United States as part of the Lend Lease program.

To launch and recover aircraft, the carriers were initially equipped with hydraulic catapults, arresting gear

Arresting gear

, and crash barriers. Aircraft were stored in a single hangar measuring 445 by, with a height clearance of 17 in 6 in (5.33 m). This allowed the Light Fleets to later operate aircraft that the fleet carriers, which generally had two hangars with lower clearance in each, could not. The hangar was serviced by two aircraft lifts.

Armament

The Light Fleets were the first British aircraft carriers where the ship's air group was seen as the 'main armament'; any mounted weapons were to be for close-range anti-aircraft defence. The Colossus design called for six quadruple barrelled 2 pounder gun mounts, and 16 twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

s. Two 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns were originally included, but an increase in the design's flight deck length in March 1942 saw them displaced. The ships were unarmoured, as increasing the size of the vessels was deemed more important than protection.
Lessons learned during the early part of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

showed the superiority of the Bofors 40 mm gun to other anti-aircraft weapons. By the end of the war, all Colossus class ships had swapped all their other weapons for Bofors in single and twin mountings, and the Majestic design had been modified to carry 30 of the guns: 18 single mountings, and 6 twin mountings. The number of Bofors carried by the Light Fleets was reduced after the war, with British ships carrying only eight.

World War II and aftermath

Although four Colossus class ships were completed before the end of World War II, they did not see front-line action: the war in Europe had proceeded to the point where aircraft carriers were of limited use, and by the time the carriers reached the Pacific, Japan had surrendered. The four ships, assigned to the British Pacific Fleet

British Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...

, were instead used for the transportation of returning soldiers and rescued prisoners-of-war, to help alleviate the shortage of troopships and liners. As with the Colossus class, the maintenance carriers were completed but did not enter active service before the end of the war. They were reclassified as Ferry Carriers, and used to transport aircraft to British bases and ships across the world.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the carriers were used as testbeds for new aircraft and technology. Throughout late 1945, Ocean was used to trial several new aircraft: the Hawker Sea Fury

Hawker Sea Fury

and de Havilland Sea Hornet piston-engine fighters during August, and the de Havilland Sea Venom jet-propelled fighter-bomber in December. On 4 December 1945, the Sea Venom became the first jet aircraft to land on a carrier—two months before, Oceans flight deck saw the last landing of a Fairey Swordfish

Fairey Swordfish

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...

torpedo bomber. The angled flight deck concept (which would later be installed on several of the Majestic class carriers) was first trialled aboard Theseus: the straight-line deck markings were removed, and markings for an angled landing painted on. After a two-year loan to Canada, Warrior served as a testbed for rubberised flexible decks and skid-like landing gear

Landing Gear

Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...

during 1948 and 1949. During 1951 and 1952, Perseus was used as a trials ship for the under-development steam catapult.

Korean War

The Colossus class first saw combat during the Korean War

Korean War

. Following the invasion of South Korea by North Korea on 25 June, ships of the British Far East Fleet that were operating in Japanese waters, including the carrier , were placed under the United States Far East Commander, to operate in retaliation to the invasion under the instructions of the United Nations Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

. The first carrier attack began on 3 July 1950, with aircraft from Triumph and United States carrier performing air strikes on North Korean airfields.

Between them, the Colossus class carriers Triumph, , , and , along with the Majestic class , maintained a constant British aircraft carrier presence for the duration of the Korean War. The Light Fleets were cheaper to operate than the armoured fleet carriers while providing a similar sized air group, but during the war proved to be slower, less comfortable, and more prone to wear-and-tear than other RN carriers. Financial and manpower restrictions meant that only one Light Fleet could be deployed to Korea at a time. also contributed to the Korean War effort by transporting replacement aircraft from the United Kingdom to British bases throughout the Far East region, which were then drawn upon by the active carriers.

Following the end of the Korean War, Warrior and Sydney returned to Korean waters on separate deployments, to ensure that the armistice was enforced and hostilities did not re-ignite.

Suez Crisis

and were part of the British response to the 1956 Suez Crisis

Suez Crisis

. The two ships were not used as aircraft carriers; instead they were equipped with helicopters and tasked with transporting 45 Commando

45 Commando

45 Commando Royal Marines is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet....

, a battalion of the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

, ashore, in order to secure harbours and other landing points for heavy equipment. This, the first ship-based helicopter assault, was successful, and prompted the development of the amphibious assault ship

Amphibious assault ship

An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...

Decommissioning and disposal

The two maintenance carriers were decommissioned during the 1950s and scrapped: Pioneer was sold in 1954, and Perseus in 1958. With the exception of HMS Triumph, the Colossus class carriers that remained in RN service were disposed of during the early 1960s. None were significantly modernised during their service life. Triumph left service in 1958, underwent a major conversion into a Heavy Repair Ship, and re-entered service in 1965.

Foreign service

As Britain was unable to maintain the size of her wartime fleet after the end of World War II, several Colossus class ships were placed into reserve, while work on the Majestic class was initially halted at the end of World War II, then restored to a low-priority status. Demands for fiscal cutbacks, combined with the rapid obsolescence of the carriers by the development of jet aircraft, saw four of the eight Colossuses and all five completed Majestics sold off to other nations.

The majority of the Light Fleets in foreign service were modernised, either during construction or afterwards, to operate jet aircraft. This usually consisted of the installation of an angled flight deck, upgrading the aircraft catapult to be steam-powered, and installing an optical landing system

Optical Landing System

An optical landing system is used to give glidepath information to pilots in the terminal phase of landing on an aircraft carrier...

: Australian Majestic class carrier HMAS Melbourne was the third aircraft carrier in the world, after and , to be constructed with these features instead of having them added later.

Argentina

After a two-year loan to Canada, and a second period in Royal Navy commission, Warrior was sold to the Argentine Navy

Argentine Navy

The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....

in 1958, and commissioned as on 11 November. Independencia served as the Argentine flagship until she was replaced by the Dutch Karel Doorman (formerly HMS Venerable

HMS Venerable (R63)

HMS Venerable was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. She served for only the last few months of World War II, and in 1948 she was sold to the Netherlands and renamed HNLMS Karel Doorman and taking part in the military clash in 1962 in Western New Guinea...

), which was sold on to Argentina in 1969. Independencia was struck from service in 1971 and broken up for scrap.

The new carrier was commissioned as . Veinticinco was initially equipped with A-4 Skyhawk

A-4 Skyhawk

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a carrier-capable ground-attack aircraft designed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The delta winged, single-engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated the A4D...

jet fighters, but these were replaced with Super Étendards in the 1980s. The carrier provided air cover for the Occupation of the Falkland Islands

Occupation of the Falkland Islands

The Military Administration of the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived, Argentine-controlled government of a long disputed group of islands in the South Atlantic which had been governed by the United Kingdom since the 1833 re-establishment of British rule ...

in 1982, but remained confined to port for the rest of the Falklands War

Falklands War

, particularly after the British submarine sank the Argentine cruiser . Problems with her propulsion machinery meant that Veinticinco was effectively inoperable from June 1986, although it was not until the start of 1999 that she was marked for scrapping.

Australia

In 1944, the Australian government suggested that Australian personnel be used to help counteract a personnel shortage in the Royal Navy by manning an aircraft carrier, one or more cruisers, and six destroyers. The Admiralty deemed a Colossus class Light Fleet to be the most appropriate aircraft carrier, and Venerable was initially proposed for transfer to the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

as a gift or on loan. The plan was deferred on the Australian end until a review of manpower requirements across the entire war effort

War effort

In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...

was completed. The ship manning proposal was revisited in mid-1945, but the surrender of Germany in May meant that British shortages were not as problematic; as a counteroffer, the purchase of the Colossus class Ocean by Australia was suggested. The Australian government decided against the purchase of Ocean in June.

Following World War II, a post-war review suggested that the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

acquire three aircraft carriers as the core of a new fleet; funding restrictions saw the number of proposed carriers dropped to two. To this end, Australia acquired two Majestic class ships: , which was commissioned in 1948 as ; and , which was upgraded for jet operations and commissioned in 1955 as . While waiting for Majestic/Melbourne to finish modernisation, the Colossus class was loaned to Australia from 1952 until 1955, allowing them to operate a two-carrier fleet.
The first aircraft carrier acquired by the Royal Australian Navy, Sydney was deployed to Korea in order to maintain a consistent British Commonwealth carrier presence in the conflict. Operating between September 1951 and January 1952, Sydney was the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion

Dominion

A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...

to see combat. Reclassified as a training ship in 1955, Sydney was decommissioned in 1958 but reactivated in 1962 as a fast troop transport. In her troopship role, Sydney travelled to Vietnam 25 times between 1965 and 1972. She was decommissioned in November 1973, and sold to a South Korean company for scrapping in 1975.

Although deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve

Far East Strategic Reserve

The British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve was a joint military force of the British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces...

on several occasions, and assigned to escort Sydney to and from Vietnam on three occasions, Melbourne was not directly involved in any conflict during her career. However, she collided with and sank two plane guard

Plane guard

A plane guard is a warship or helicopter tasked to recover the aircrew of planes or helicopters which ditch or crash in the water during aircraft carrier flight operations.-Ships:...

destroyers— in 1964

Melbourne-Voyager collision

The Melbourne-Voyager collision, also referred to as the "Melbourne-Voyager incident" or simply the "Voyager incident", was a collision between two warships of the Royal Australian Navy ; the aircraft carrier and the destroyer...

, and in 1969—which, along with several minor collisions and incidents, led to the reputation that the carrier was jinx

Jinx

A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is:* A type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck;...

ed. Melbourne was sold to China for scrapping in 1985; instead of being broken up, she was studied as part of the nation's top-secret carrier development program

Future Chinese aircraft carrier

Since the 1970s, the People's Liberation Army Navy has expressed interest in operating an aircraft carrier as part of its blue water aspirations, and press reports have frequently quoted senior Chinese military officials as expressing an intention to build aircraft carriers...

, and may not have been dismantled until 2002. There were plans to replace Melbourne with the British carrier , but Invincible was withdrawn from sale following her service in the Falklands War, and a 1983 election

Australian federal election, 1983

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...

promise to not replace the carrier saw the end of fixed-wing naval aviation by 1985.

Brazil

After Vengeance was returned from her loan to Australia, she was sold to the Brazilian Navy

Brazilian Navy

The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...

on 14 December 1956. From mid-1957 until December 1960, the carrier underwent a massive refit and reconstruction at Verolme Dock in Rotterdam; the work performed included the installation of an 8.5-degree angled flight deck and a steam catapult, strengthening of arresting gear

Arresting gear

, and reinforcing of the hangar elevators. The carrier was commissioned into the Marinha do Brasil (MB, Brazilian Navy) as Minas Gerais on 6 December 1960.

The Brazilian carrier was equipped with S-2E Tracker

S-2 Tracker

The Grumman S-2 Tracker was the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare aircraft to enter service with the US Navy. The Tracker was of conventional design with twin engines, a high wing and tricycle undercarriage. The type was exported to a number of navies around the world...

aircraft, and helicopters of the ASH-3D Sea King, AS-355 Ecureuil

Eurocopter Ecureuil

The Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil is a single-engined light helicopter originally manufactured by Aérospatiale . The AS350 is marketed in North America as the AStar...

, and A-332 Super Puma

Eurocopter Super Puma

The Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter marketed for both civil and military use. Originally designed and built by Aérospatiale, it is an enlarged and re-engined version of the original Aérospatiale Puma...

types: Brazilian law prevented the MB from operating fixed-wing aircraft, so two separate air groups had to be embarked. In 1999, the MB acquired A-4KU Skyhawk

A-4 Skyhawk

s—the first time Brazilian naval aviators were permitted to operate fixed-wing aircraft until the carrier's 2001 decommissioning. Minas Gerais was replaced by NAe São Paulo (the former French carrier ).

Minas Gerais was the last of the World War II-era light aircraft carriers to leave service, and at the time of her decommissioning was the oldest active aircraft carrier in the world (a title passed on to the 1961-commissioned ). The carrier was marked for sale in 2002, and was actively sought after by British naval associations for return to England and preservation as a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

, although they were unable to raise the required money. Just before Christmas 2003, the carrier was listed for sale on auction website eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

, but was removed because the site's rules prevented the sale of military ordnance. Sometime between February and July 2004, the carrier was towed to the ship breaking

Ship breaking

yards at Alang, India for dismantling.

Canada

Following wartime experience showing the effectiveness of naval aviation, the Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

decided to acquire an aircraft carrier. The Canadian government decided to purchase the Majestic class carrier Powerful, and have her upgraded to modern standards. The Colossus class vessel was transferred on a two-year loan from 1946 to 1948, so the experience gained by providing ship's companies for two British escort carriers during the war could be maintained. The upgrading of Powerful took longer than expected, and as Warrior had to be returned by 1948, the Majestic class Magnificent was completed to the basic Majestic design and loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1948 as . On her return to Britain, Warrior was used as a trials ship, then modernised before her sale to Argentina. The loan of Magnificent continued until Powerfuls completion in 1957, at which point Magnificent was returned to the British. She was to be sold to another nation, but after no buyers came forward, the carrier was scrapped.

In the meantime, Powerful had been upgraded to operate jet aircraft. The modifications included an 8° angled flight deck and steam catapult, and she was equipped with American weapons, radars, and jet aircraft instead of their British equivalents. She was commissioned in 1957 as . The carrier's design could not keep up with the advances in naval aircraft, and during the early 1960s, her air group was reduced to helicopters only. She remained in service until 1970. Her departure marked the end of carrier-based aviation in the Canadian Forces

Canadian Forces

The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

France

Lead ship was loaned to the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

in August 1946 and renamed . The vessel remained in French service, and was purchased outright in 1951.

Arromanches was deployed to French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

and operated during the First Indochina War

First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...

from 1949 to 1954. After the war's end, the carrier was assigned to the Mediterranean. She participated in the 1956 Suez Crisis, but unlike her British sister ships, Arromanches role consisted of air strikes against Egyptian positions around Port Said

Port Said

Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...

. A modernisation from 1956 to 1958 saw the installation of a 4° angled flight deck, allowing Arromanches to operate Breguet Alizé

Breguet Alizé

|-See also:-References:*Michell, Simon. . Jane's Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades 1994-95. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Information Group, 1994. ISBN 0-7106-1208-7.-External links:*...

anti-submarine aircraft.

Arromanches was replaced in active service by the French-built Clemenceau class

Clemenceau class aircraft carrier

The Clemenceau class aircraft carrier are a pair of aircraft carriers which served in the French Navy from 1961 through 2000, and of which one currently remains in active service with the Brazilian Navy...

, and was converted into a training ship in 1960. Apart from a short stint as an anti-submarine carrier in 1968, the ship remained in this role until her 1974 decommissioning. Arromanches was broken up for scrap in 1978.

India

Work on the Majestic class was suspended in May 1946, with the ship about 75% complete. The carrier remained in an unfinished condition until January 1957, when she was purchased by the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

. Fitted with an angled flight deck, Hercules was commissioned into the Indian Navy as in 1961. Vikrant was not involved in the 1962 Sino-Indian War

Sino-Indian War

The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...

or the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947...

because she was docked for maintenance and refits on both occasions. She did operate during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...

, with her air group performing strike and interdiction operations in East Pakistan

East Pakistan

East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

A major upgrade between 1979 and 1982 saw the carrier fitted with a new propulsion system, an updated radar suite, and a 9.75° ski-jump ramp to be used by Sea Harriers. The carrier was last deployed in 1994, and she was decommissioned in 1997. Vikrant helped the Indian Navy to become the dominant regional power.

Following her decommissioning, Vikrant was marked for preservation as a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

, although a lack of funding has prevented progress on the ship's conversion for this role. Vikrant is opened to the public by the Indian Navy for short periods, but as of April 2010, the Government of Maharashtra

Government of Maharashtra

Government of Maharashtra is the government for the state of Maharashtra in Western India.It is an elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the legislative assembly for a 5 year term.-Ministers:...

has been unable to find an industrial partner to operate the museum on a permanent, long-term basis.

Netherlands

The Royal Netherlands Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy

The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

acquired the Colossus class in 1948, and commissioned her as . Initially, the carrier operated piston-engined aircraft, but underwent modernisation from 1955 to 1958, including a steam catapult, reinforced flight deck and aircraft lifts, and an 8° angled deck. Between the upgrade and 1964, Karel Doorman possessed a mixed air group of jet fighters, anti-submarine aircraft, and helicopters; the fixed-wing aircraft were removed in that year.

In 1968, Karel Doorman was heavily damaged by fire. She was repaired with equipment stripped from British Light Fleet Carriers in reserve and awaiting disposal. However, before the fire, the Royal Netherlands Navy was reconsidering carrier-based operation, and instead of returning her to service, Karel Doorman was sold to Argentina.

Ships

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Paid off	Foreign service and notes	Fate
Colossus class
	Vickers-Armstrong	1 June 1942	30 September 1943	16 December 1944	1946	French Navy: Arromanches (1946–1974)	Scrapped in 1978
	Harland & Wolff	27 August 1942	27 November 1943	2 April 1945	1956	-	Scrapped in 1961
	Stephen & Sons	8 November 1942	8 July 1943	8 August 1945	1960	-	Scrapped in 1962
	Cammell-Laird	3 December 1942	30 December 1943	17 January 1945	April 1947	Royal Netherlands Navy: (1948–1968) Argentine Navy: (1969–1999)	Scrapped in 1999
	Swan Hunter	16 November 1942	23 February 1944	15 January 1945	1952	Royal Australian Navy: HMAS Vengeance (1952–1955) Brazilian Navy: Minas Gerais (1960–2001)	Scrapped in 2004
	Vickers-Armstrong	2 December 1942	20 May 1944	8 February 1945	1954	Completed as maintenance carrier	Scrapped in 1954
	Harland & Wolff Ltd.	12 December 1942	20 May 1944	2 April 1945	1946	Royal Canadian Navy: HMCS Warrior (1946–1948) Returned to Royal Navy (1948-195?) Argentine Navy: (1958–1971)	Scrapped in 1971
	Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company	6 January 1943	6 July 1944	9 February 1946	1957	-	Scrapped in 1962
	R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie & Company Ltd.	27 January 1943	2 October 1944	9 May 1946	1975	Reclassified as repair ship in 1965	1981
	Vickers-Armstrong	1 June 1943	26 March 1944	19 October 1945	1957	Completed as maintenance carrier	Scrapped in 1958
Majestic class
Majestic/	Vickers-Armstrong	15 April 1943	28 February 1945	28 October 1955	30 May 1982	Royal Australian Navy	Scrapped in 1985
Terrible/	HM Dockyard Devonport	19 April 1943	30 September 1944	16 December 1948	12 November 1973	Royal Australian Navy	Scrapped in 1975
Magnificent/	Harland & Wolff	29 July 1943	16 November 1944	21 March 1948	1956	Royal Canadian Navy	Scrapped in 1965
Hercules/	Vickers-Armstrong (construction) Harland & Wolff (fitting out)	14 October 1943	22 September 1945	4 April 1961	31 January 1997	Indian Navy	Preserved as museum ship Museum ship A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
Leviathan	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Ltd.	18 October 1943	7 June 1945	–	–	Scrapped before completion	Scrapped in 1968
Powerful/	Harland & Wolff	27 November 1943	27 February 1945	17 January 1957	3 July 1970	Royal Canadian Navy/ Canadian Forces Maritime Command	Scrapped 1971

External links

links to service histories

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