HMS Albion (R07)
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Albion |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
| Laid down: | 22 March 1944 |
| Launched: | 16 May 1947 |
| Commissioned: | 26 May 1954 |
| Decommissioned: | 1973 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Identification: | pennant number: R07 |
| Motto: | Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter(Latin: Boldly, Faithfully, Successfully) |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Centaur-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 24,000 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 737.75 ft (224.87 m) |
| Beam: | 123 ft (37 m) |
| Draught: | 27.8 ft (8.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 4 boilers, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range: | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement: | 1596 (including air group) |
| Armament: | 2 sextuple Bofors 40 mm AA ; 8 twin Bofors 40 mm ; 4 single Bofors 40 mm ; 4 single 3-pounder saluting guns |
| Armour: | 1 to 2-inch (51 mm) flight deck |
| Aircraft carried: | 42 (decreased to 26 with jet fighters) |
HMS Albion (R07), nicknamed "The Old Grey Ghost of the Borneo Coast", was a 22,000 ton Centaur-class light fleet carrier of the Royal Navy.
She was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd. Her keel was laid down in March 1944 and she was launched in May 1947. On 18 October 1949, she was under tow by tugs Beamish, Hendon and George V from Jarrow to Rosyth when Albion collided with SS Maystone 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) from the Longstone Lighthouse. Maystone sank, Albion received a 225 square feet (20.9 m2) hole in her stern and started to sink. The three tugs attempted to beach her near St Abbs Head but were hampered when Hector became disabled when a tow rope wrapped around her propellor. The tug HMS Restive was sent from Rosyth to assist and the destroyer HMS St James arrived and took Hector on tow until her crew managed to clear the propellor. Albion was successfully berthed at Rosyth with 5 feet (1.5 m) of water in her engine room. She was scheduled for completion in 1951 but not fully completed until May 1954. During the night of 19–20 June 1954, helicopters from Albion assisted in the search for survivors of a Swissair aircraft that had ditched in the English Channel off Folkestone, Kent. After an initial work up with her air group, joined the Mediterranean Fleet in September that same year, becoming flagship of Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers.
In 1956, after refitting at Portsmouth, Albion returned once again to the Mediterranean Sea for operations relating to the Suez Crisis where her air group struck key Egyptian airfields, and covered the paratroopers landings. In July 1958, Albion had a sample of what she would one day become, when she embarked 42 Commando Royal Marines, with all its vehicles and additional equipment to the Middle East.
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