HMS Bulwark (R08)
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HMS Bulwark
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Bulwark |
| Ordered: | 17 April 1943 |
| Builder: | Harland & Wolff |
| Laid down: | 10 May 1945 |
| Launched: | 22 June 1948 |
| Commissioned: | 4 November 1954 |
| Decommissioned: | April 1981 |
| In service: |
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| Homeport: | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Identification: | Pennant number: R08 |
| Motto: | "Under thy wings I will trust" |
| Nickname(s): | The Rusty B |
| Honours and awards: |
Operation Musketeer |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Centaur-class light aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 26,200 tonnes (full load) |
| Length: | 737.75 ft (224.87 m) |
| Beam: | 123 ft (37 m) |
| Draught: | 27.8 ft (8.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 boilers, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement: | 850 (+ 200 Naval Air Squadron + 800 Royal Marines Commando) |
| Aircraft carried: | As a commando carrier: 16 Wessex V helicopters of 845 or 848 Naval Air Squadron |
The sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier. Initially commissioned as a light aircraft carrier in 1954, the ship was later converted into a commando carrier in 1958 and recommissioned as such in 1960. Bulwark remained in this capacity until 1969. Then, in 1979, following failed efforts to sell the ship, Bulwark re-entered service as an anti-submarine warfare carrier and remained as such until being decomissioned in 1981. The ship was scrapped in 1984.
Bulwark was laid down by the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast on 10 May 1945. She was launched on 22 June 1948, but was not commissioned into the Royal Navy until 4 November 1954.
In 1956, Bulwark took part in her first operation, during the Suez Crisis, when she launched up to 600 sorties in what was then known as Operation Musketeer. In 1958 she assisted two tankers that had collided in the Persian Gulf. She towed one of the tankers, SS Melika, to Muscat, winning the Boyd Trophy for her actions.
The final fixed wing complement, as embarked in 1957 (the Gannet squadron was dropped in 1958), was as follows:
In 1958 she paid off at Portsmouth for conversion into a commando carrier. Her sister ship, Albion, did likewise in 1961.
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Wikipedia