HMS Implacable (R86)

Profile view of Implacable at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Implacable
Ordered:	October 1938
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding, Govan
Laid down:	21 February 1939
Launched:	10 December 1942
Commissioned:	28 August 1944
Decommissioned:	1 September 1954
Identification:	Pennant number: 86
Honours and awards:	Norway 1944, Japan 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 27 October 1955
General characteristics
Class and type:	Implacable-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	32,110 long tons (32,630 t) (deep load)
Length:	766 ft 6 in (233.6 m) (o/a) 730 ft (222.5 m) (waterline)
Beam:	95 ft 9 in (29.2 m)
Draught:	29 ft 4 in (8.9 m) (deep load)
Installed power:	148,000 shp (110,000 kW) 8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion:	4 Shafts 4 Geared steam turbines
Speed:	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range:	6,720 nmi (12,450 km; 7,730 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	2,300 (1945)
Sensors and processing systems:	1 × Type 277 height-finding radar 1 × Type 279 early-warning radar 1 × Type 281 early-warning radar 6 × Type 282 gunnery radars 4 × Type 285 gunnery radars
Armament:	8 × twin QF 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns 5 × octuple, 1 × quadruple QF 2-pdr anti-aircraft guns 21 × twin, 19 × single Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft guns
Armour:	Waterline belt: 4.5 in (114 mm) Flight deck: 3 in (76 mm) Bulkheads: 2 in (51 mm) Hangar sides: 2 in (51 mm) Magazines: 3–4.5 in (76–114 mm)
Aircraft carried:	81
Aviation facilities:	1 catapult

HMS Implacable was an Implacable-class aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Upon completion in 1944, she was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and attacked targets in Norway for the rest of the year. She was subsequently assigned to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) where she attacked the Japanese naval base at Truk and targets in the Japanese Home Islands in 1945. The ship was used to repatriate liberated Allied prisoners of war (PoWs) and soldiers after the Japanese surrender, for the rest of the year. Implacable returned home in 1946 and became the Home Fleet's deck-landing training carrier, a role that lasted until 1950. She briefly served as the flagship of Home Fleet in 1950. During this time she participated in many exercises and made a number of port visits in Western Europe. She was placed in reserve in 1950 and converted into a training ship in 1952, and served as flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. The ship was considered for a major modernisation in 1951–52, but this was rejected as too expensive and time-consuming. Implacable was decommissioned in 1954 and sold for scrap the following year.

The Implacable class had its origin as an improved version of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers for the 1938 Naval Programme. They were designed to be 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) faster, and to carry an additional dozen aircraft at the expense of reduced armour protection to remain within the 23,000 long tons (23,000 t) available from the tonnage allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty.Implacable was 766 feet 6 inches (233.6 m) long overall and 730 feet (222.5 m) at the waterline. Her beam was 95 feet 9 inches (29.2 m) at the waterline and she had a draught of 29 feet 4 inches (8.9 m) at deep load. The Implacable-class ships were significantly overweight and displaced 32,110 long tons (32,630 t) at deep load. The ships had metacentric heights of 4.06 feet (1.2 m) at light load and 6.91 feet (2.1 m) at deep load as completed.Implacable's complement was approximately 2,300 officers and enlisted men in 1945.