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![]() HMS Ark Royal with Phantom FG1 and Buccaneer S2 aircraft on deck, 1976 | |
History | |
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Name | Ark Royal |
Ordered | 18 March 1942 |
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, England |
Laid down | 3 May 1943 |
Launched | 3 May 1950 |
Commissioned | 22 February 1955 |
Decommissioned | 14 February 1979 |
Stricken | February 1979 |
Homeport | HMNB Devonport |
Identification | Pennant number: R09 |
Motto | Desire Does Not Rest |
Nickname(s) | The Mighty Ark |
Fate | Scrapped 1980 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Audacious-class aircraft carrier |
Displacement |
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Length | 804 feet (245 m) |
Beam |
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Draught |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h) |
Range |
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Complement | 2,250 (2,640 inc. air staff) |
Sensors and processing systems | After 1970:
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
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HMS Ark Royal (R09) was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1979, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier. She was the first aircraft carrier to be equipped with an angled flight deck at its commissioning; her sister ship, HMS Eagle, was the Royal Navy's first angle-decked aircraft carrier after modification in 1954. Ark Royal was the only non-United States vessel to operate the McDonnell Douglas Phantom at sea.
Ark Royal was the sister ship to HMS Eagle, which was initially named HMS Audacious, hence the name of the class. Four Audacious-class ships were laid down, but two (HMS Africa and the original HMS Eagle) were cancelled when the Second World War ended, and construction of the other two was suspended for several years. Both completed ships were extensively upgraded throughout their lifetimes.
A contract was placed with Cammell Laird on the River Mersey on 19 March 1942 , to build the first ship of the class. While it had been originally planned to name the ship Irresistible, this was changed to Ark Royal before ordering to commemorate the aircraft carrier lost in 1941. The ship, which was the largest warship ever to be built by Cammell Laird, was laid down at Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 3 May 1943 , as yard number 1119. [2] Construction was slow, and was suspended after the end of the Second World War to allow the ship's design to be updated to better suit her for the operation of modern aircraft. Ark Royal was launched by Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, on 3 May 1950 . She was completed on 25 February 1955 , and commissioned the next day at Devonport. [3]
In this time, she underwent redesign and, when completed, she was markedly different from her sister ship. Shortly before her launch from the Cammell Laird shipyard, an image of the ship painted with her white undercoat was captured by the pictorialist photographer E. Chambré Hardman. This has been exhibited many times under the name 'Where Great Ships Are Built' and later 'Birth of the Ark Royal'. When commissioned, she had a 5.5° partially angled flight deck, two steam catapults capable of launching aircraft weighing up to 30,000 pounds (14,000 kilograms), a deck-edge lift on the port side (the first British ship to be fitted with such a device), modified armament, and the new mirror landing system. Ark Royal was the first ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults, as opposed to having them added after launching. [4] These innovations allowed aircraft to land and take off from the carrier at the same time. Her flight deck as built was 800 by 112 feet (244 by 34 metres).
A further four years passed before she commenced her sea trials. [5]
About a year after commissioning, her forward port 4.5 inches (110 mm) guns were removed to improve aircraft operations over the angled deck. Four years later, the port deck-edge lift and the forward starboard 4.5 inch guns were also removed. After the 1964 refit, only one twin 4.5 inch gun mount remained aft on port and starboard side. [6] From 1967 to February 1970, she underwent a refit which was a major rebuild to her structure, but only an austere update to her electronic equipment, and was confined to changes needed to operate the RN's version of the Phantom. Prior to, and during the refit, concerns over costs, the age of the hull, and changing political opinions over naval requirements threatened the refit, and even a possibility that the ship could be scrapped. However, convincing arguments to retain and upgrade the carrier won through.
The refit cost around £30 million, far less than the modernisation of Eagle, but also added several improvements, which allowed her to comfortably operate the larger Phantom and Buccaneer Mk.2 aircraft. Her modifications included a full 8.5° angled flight deck, new and far more powerful steam catapults, bridle-catchers, heavy-grade jet-blast deflectors (both of which Eagle did not receive), and heavy-weight arrestor cables. Twelve hundred miles of new cabling was installed, [7] but the ship was not completely rewired and retained old DC electrics. A modified island (with a different arrangement from Eagle), and a partially new electronic suite were also added, though some of her original radars, such as 983 height-finders were retained, and she did not receive the 3-D air-search radar set that her sister had fitted, instead two double-array 966 versions of the standard RN 965 long-range system were fitted and one of the new 986 sets. Significantly, Ark Royal was the first and only RN carrier fitted with a USN carrier approach system, the AN/SPN-35 radar, [7] increasing night aircraft operational capability and safety. Her flight deck size was increased port aft, giving her extra deck-park space for her air group that Eagle did not have. She was also fitted for four Seacat missile launchers, which were never installed, so she emerged from refit with no defensive armament except for Corvus decoy launchers. Significantly, there was little more than an overhaul of her steam turbines and boilers, meaning that mechanically she was very dated; however, the stripping-out of Eagle meant that for a time essential spares were available. Ark Royal was then scheduled for at the most only five years' more service by a new government policy to scrap the carriers by 1975. Intensive maintenance as well as a new programme of continuous servicing and repair (with RN maintenance ships always in her task groups) kept her going until late 1978, though increasing mechanical and electrical failures led to her decommissioning in early 1979.
At her entry into service, the ship had a complement of up to 50 aircraft, comprising Sea Hawks, Sea Venoms, Gannets, Skyraiders, and various helicopters. As later aircraft types grew in size and complexity, her air group fell to below 40 when she left service in 1978.
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Ark Royal participated in many exercises as part of the British fleet and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) squadrons, but saw no combat duty. She was not involved in the Suez Crisis in Egypt of 1956, about a year after her commissioning; she was on her way there when she ran a main propeller shaft bearing, and had to return to Devonport for a major refit. Eagle replaced her at Suez. In 1963, she carried out trials for a new type of Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft, the Hawker P.1127, which later developed into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The same aircraft, now having been redesigned and developed as the British Aerospace Sea Harrier, was later accepted as the primary strike capability of the future third and last Ark Royal from 1980 onwards.
She was part of the Beira Patrol enforcing the naval blockade of Rhodesia in 1965. [8] The 1966 Defence White Paper planned the end of British aircraft carriers in the early 1970s, but she went into dock for her refit to head off dockyard redundancies and the likely political issues. [9] A new government re-examined the case for carriers, finding that shore-based aircraft could not provide adequate cover for British concerns 'East of Suez'.
On 9 November 1970, whilst in the Mediterranean to participate in a NATO exercise, Ark Royal collided with Bravyy, [10] a Soviet Navy Kotlin-class destroyer which was shadowing her (a common practice during the Cold War). [11] Ark Royal was slightly damaged, while the Soviet destroyer sustained minor damage and two missing crew. Ark Royal's commanding officer, Captain Raymond Lygo, was cleared of blame at the subsequent court martial.
The ship featured in the 1960s British television series Not Only... But Also starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. When commissions ended, items were fired off the catapult into the sea, including pianos and once a toilet complete with paying-off pennant.[ citation needed ]
By 1970, Ark Royal had a complement of 39 aircraft. This typically comprised twelve Phantom FG Mk.1s, of 892 Naval Air Squadron, fourteen Buccaneer S Mk.2s of 809 Squadron, four Gannet AEW (Airborne Early Warning) Mk.3s of B Flight 849 Squadron, six Sea King HAS Mk.1s of 824 Squadron, two Wessex HAR Mk.1s of the Ship's Flight, and one Gannet COD Mk.4.[ citation needed ] later replaced by an AEW3.[ citation needed ] The Buccaneers doubled as tanker aircraft, using buddy refuelling pods, and as long-range reconnaissance aircraft with bomb bay-mounted camera packs. In July 1976, she represented Britain at the United States Bicentennial Celebration in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[ citation needed ]
In 1972, the Buccaneers aboard Ark Royal took part in a long-range strike mission over British Honduras in Central America shortly before its independence as a constitutional monarchy named Her Majesty's Government of Belize to deter a possible invasion by Guatemala, which had long-standing territorial claims. [12]
In 1977, under the flag of Admiral Sir Henry Leach KCB Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Ark Royal led the Royal Navy's tribute to and celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee at Spithead. [13]
In the mid-1970s, the ship made a return to television. A major BBC documentary series, one of the earliest fly on the wall documentaries, Sailor was made, showing life on board the ship during a February-to-July 1976 Western Atlantic deployment. Her commanding officer at this time was Captain Wilfred Graham, a later Flag Officer Portsmouth, and the ship's Commander (executive officer) was Commander David Cowling. The theme tune for the programme was Sailing by Rod Stewart – a song that came to be associated with the ship and her successor. She visited Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 30 May until 14 June 1978.
She entered HMNB Devonport on 4 December 1978, and was decommissioned on 14 February 1979. Like her sister Eagle, she had a relatively short (24 year) life, and when the White Ensign lowered for the last time, the Royal Navy no longer had fixed-wing aircraft at sea, a situation that persisted until the acceptance into service of HMS Invincible in March 1980 and the completion of the conversion of HMS Hermes to operate the Sea Harrier in mid-1981. On 29 March 1980, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that she would be sold for scrap, and so ended plans to preserve her. She left Devonport on 22 September 1980 under tow, to be scrapped at Cairnryan near Stranraer in Scotland, arriving on 28 September. When arriving at the breakers, her sister ship Eagle was in the final process of being broken up there. Breaking-up of Ark Royal took until 1983. During this period, many former crew travelled to the breakers' jetty at the remote corner of Loch Ryan to pay their last respects; some were reduced to tears when seeing the ship being torn to pieces. However, various parts of the ship remain as souvenirs or memorials; for instance, an anchor (along with an anchor from her sister ship Eagle) outside the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton. One of her other anchors is in Armada Way, Plymouth, near Plymouth Hoe.
squadron | aircraft type | number of aircraft | role |
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809 NAS | Buccaneer S2 | 14 | strike |
892 NAS | Phantom FG1 | 12 | fleet air defence |
849B NAS | Gannet AEW3 | 4 | airborne early warning |
Gannet COD4 | 1 | carrier on-board delivery | |
824 NAS | Sea King HAS2 | 7 | anti-submarine warfare |
Ship's Flight | Wessex HAS1 | 2 | search and rescue |
While Ark Royal's career spanned 24 years from the time of her commissioning (her name was a household word), she spent as much time in refit; repair and reserve and modernisation as in commissioned service (12 years). It required a lot of effort from her engineers to keep her serviceable between yard periods. Ark Royal had been poorly preserved during her lengthy construction [7] from 1942 to 1955, and much of her machinery was obsolete by her completion, including her dated DC electrics, supplemented later by some AC systems, resulting in a ship that experienced regular defects and mechanical failure. [7] Eagle was a more reliable and well-built ship, [14] and spent far more time at sea than her sister. The scrapping of Ark Royal in 1980, two years after Eagle, marked the end of conventional fixed-wing aircraft operations aboard Royal Navy carriers. She had borne so many innovations, yet her replacement was not equipped with any of these. There was some discussion about preserving her as a museum ship, and some private funds were raised; the MOD would not sanction these efforts. The Fleet Air Arm Museum has subsequently mimicked the ship's island and flight deck in its central hall as an Aircraft Carrier Experience exhibition.
The Centaur-class aircraft carrier HMS Hermes remained in service after her, but had been converted to a helicopter commando carrier in 1971, and then as a V/STOL carrier. The much smaller Invincible-class aircraft carrier could carry only vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft and helicopters. The two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, which were commissioned in 2017 and 2019, were originally designed to operate V/STOL aircraft. Despite expert advice, and in an attempt to reduce costs, the UK government requested that the new carriers be modified to operate conventional CATOBAR (catapult-assisted takeoff and barrier/arrested recovery) aircraft. Fitting electromagnetic catapults would have required huge structural changes and an upgrade of the ships' energy generation, which proved unfeasible, and resulted in a decision to return to the original configuration. [15]
HMCS Bonaventure was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier, the third and last aircraft carrier in service with Canada's navy. The aircraft carrier was initially ordered for construction by Britain's Royal Navy as HMS Powerful during the Second World War. Following the end of the war, construction on the ship was halted and it was not until 1952 that work began once again, this time to an altered design for the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship entered service in 1957 renamed Bonaventure and, until the vessel's decommissioning in 1970, was involved in major NATO fleet-at-sea patrols and naval exercises and participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. During her career Bonaventure carried three hull identification numbers, RML 22, RRSM 22 and CVL 22. Following her decommissioning Bonaventure was sold for scrap and broken up in Taiwan.
HMS Hermes was a conventional British aircraft carrier and the last of the Centaur class.
HMS Invincible was the Royal Navy's lead ship of her class of three light aircraft carriers. She was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She was originally designated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, but was used as an aircraft carrier during the Falklands War, when she was deployed with HMS Hermes. She took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Iraq War. In 2005, she was decommissioned, and was eventually sold for scrap in February 2011.
HMS Warrior was a Colossus-class light aircraft carrier which was ordered in 1942 by the British Royal Navy during World War II. Construction was finished in 1945 and upon completion, the aircraft carrier was loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy from 1946 to 1948 as HMCS Warrior. Warrior was returned to the Royal Navy in 1948 and entered service with the British. While in service with the Royal Navy, Warrior was modernised twice, including the installation of an angled flight deck in 1956. In 1948–1949, the ship was used in aircraft landing experiments and fitted with a rubber flight deck and in 1957, was used as the headquarters ship during nuclear testing at Christmas Island. In 1958, the vessel was sold to the Argentine Navy and entered Argentine service in 1959 as ARA Independencia. The aircraft carrier remained in service until 1970 when Independencia was placed in reserve. The following year, the ship was sold for scrap.
HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to be completed with the original design configuration of a straight axial flight deck, rather than the newly invented angled flight decks of her three later sister ships. She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast, with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff, but not launched until 22 April 1947 due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1 September 1953, almost nine years from when she was laid down in 1944.
HMS Victorious was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic.
HMS Illustrious was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". In 1982, the conflict in the Falklands necessitated that Illustrious be completed and rushed south to join her sister ship HMS Invincible and the veteran carrier HMS Hermes. To this end, she was brought forward by three months for completion at Swan Hunter Shipyard, then commissioned on 20 June 1982 at sea en route to Portsmouth Dockyard to take on board extra stores and crew. She arrived in the Falklands to relieve Invincible on 28 August 1982 in a steam past. Returning to the United Kingdom, she was not formally commissioned into the fleet until 20 March 1983. After her South Atlantic deployment, she was deployed on Operation Southern Watch in Iraq, then Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia during the 1990s and Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone in 2000. An extensive re-fit during 2002 prevented her from involvement in the 2003 Iraq War, but she was returned to service in time to assist British citizens trapped by the 2006 Lebanon War.
HMS Eagle was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, in service 1951–1972. Until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in the 21st century, she and her sister Ark Royal were the two largest Royal Navy aircraft carriers ever built.
The Centaur class aircraft carrier was the final iteration of the 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier developed by the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. They were designed in 1943 to operate higher-performance aircraft than the preceding Majestic-class aircraft carrier. Four ships were laid down in 1944-1945 and completed in 1953-1959. Rapid developments in carrier warfare and technology overtook the ships even as they were under construction, and the associated costs of modernization led to ships being completed to different specifications. Only the last ship, HMS Hermes (R12), was fitted as a modern fixed-wing carrier; she was also the last of the class to retire in 2017 as INS Viraat.
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The 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier, commonly referred to as the British Light Fleet Carrier, was a light aircraft carrier design created by the Royal Navy during the Second World War, 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 carriers and the less expensive but limited-capability escort carriers.
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