HMS Pioneer (R76)
Pioneer at anchor, 3 February 1945
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Pioneer |
| Ordered: | 7 August 1942 |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 2 December 1942 |
| Launched: | 20 May 1944 |
| Completed: | 8 February 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 1954 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: R76 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, September 1954 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Colossus-class aircraft maintenance ship |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 695 ft (211.8 m) |
| Beam: | 80 ft 4 in (24.49 m) |
| Draught: | 23 ft (7.0 m) (deep load) |
| Installed power: | 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Range: | 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,076 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
6 × Type 262 gunnery radars |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | None |
HMS Pioneer was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was modified whilst under construction into an aircraft maintenance carrier. The ship arrived in Australia in mid-1945 to support operations by the British Pacific Fleet against Japanese forces. She supported the British attacks on the Japanese Home Islands from mid-June until the end of the war in August from a base in the Admiralty Islands. The ship and her facilities were used to help repair Hong Kong's infrastructure in late 1945 and she returned to the UK in early 1946. Pioneer was immediately placed in reserve upon her arrival and she was sold in 1954 for scrap.
The Colossus-class carriers were intended to meet a shortage of naval flight decks. Their design was based on that of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers, but modified to permit rapid construction in commercial yards. Pioneer was not completed to her original design; the success of the maintenance aircraft carrier Unicorn prompted modification of the ship, whilst under construction, to an aircraft maintenance ship without aircraft catapults.
Pioneer had an overall length of 695 feet (211.8 m), a beam of 80 feet 4 inches (24.5 m), and a draught of 23 feet (7.0 m) at deep load. She displaced 12,000 long tons (12,000 t) at standard load. Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft. Steam was supplied by four Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers operating at a pressure of 400 psi (2,758 kPa; 28 kgf/cm2). The turbines were designed for a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW) and gave Pioneer a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). The ship carried 3,196 long tons (3,247 t) of fuel oil which gave her a range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).
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