Centaur class aircraft carrier
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INS Viraat (Ex-HMS Hermes)
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Centaur class |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: | |
| Preceded by: | 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier |
| Succeeded by: | Invincible class |
| Subclasses: | Hermes (completed to a modified design) |
| In commission: | 1953-1984 (Royal Navy) 1987-2017 (Indian Navy) |
| Planned: | 8 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Cancelled: | 4 |
| Active: | 1 in reserve (India) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 22,000 tons 28,700 tons full load |
| Length: | 737 ft (224.6 m) |
| Beam: | 130 ft (39.6 m) |
| Draught: | 28.5 ft (8.7 m) |
| Installed power: | 78,000 hp (58,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft geared steam turbines, 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Radar Type 982, Type 983, Type 275, Type 974 |
| Armament: | 32 40 mm Bofors guns (2 × 6), (8 × 2), (4 × 1) |
| Armour: | 1 inch flight deck, Hangar deck |
| Aircraft carried: | 26 |
The Centaur class of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II. The first of four of the class was commissioned in 1953 and the final, decommissioned in 1984. The first three ships lacked an angled flight deck and were therefore unsuitable for fast jet aircraft, and production of a second four carriers in the class was cancelled.
Originally conceived as a class of eight vessels, with the end of hostilities, work on all the ships was suspended and four units Monmouth, Polyphemus, Arrogant and Hermes were cancelled outright. The four remaining vessels remained uncompleted for the best part of a decade. The earlier light fleet carriers of the Colossus and Majestic classes were completed before work resumed on the larger ships. With the extended completion periods of the units, and the rapid advances in aircraft carrier design at the time of their building, it was almost inevitable that large differences should be seen between the various members of the class.
Centaur, the first to be completed, was commissioned in 1954. The ship had an axial flight deck and was thus unsuitable for operating the jets then rapidly supplanting piston engine aircraft in the Fleet Air Arm. Centaur was commissioned in Belfast and after completing her sea trials, she then steamed into Portsmouth Dockyard and for the next six months in 1954 the ship underwent a substantial reconstruction to provide for an interim (angled at 4 degrees, and not sponsoned out) angled flight deck and low powered steam catapults. However, service in this new configuration did not last long and the ship was decommissioned in 1965, but used as a harbour accommodation ship for a further six years. Conversion to a "commando carrier" configuration was cancelled in 1966.
Albion and Bulwark, the next two members of the class completed, spent their lives inextricably linked. They both took part in Operation Musketeer, during the Suez Crisis, and they were both later converted into commando carriers. In this role, instead of carrying fast jets, they carried helicopters and marines. They were worked hard in the 1960s, (and not well maintained), with each taking turns deploying 'east of Suez' to the Far East Fleet. The link was broken when Albion (needing an expensive refit) was decommissioned in 1973. Bulwark lingered on a few years longer until 1976. However, in early 1979, Bulwark was recommissioned in the anti-submarine role. It was only a short commission though as a mess deck fire in 1979, and an engine room fire in 1980 finally saw the old ship withdrawn from service. She was rapidly surveyed during the Falklands War for recommissioning, but determined to be in too poor a material condition. She was sold for scrap in late 1983.
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Wikipedia