HMS Vengeance (R71)
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The aircraft carrier Vengeance, during her loan to the Royal Australian Navy
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Vengeance |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
| Laid down: | 16 November 1942 |
| Launched: | 23 February 1944 |
| Completed: | 15 January 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 1952 |
| Fate: | Loaned to Royal Australian Navy |
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Australia
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| Renamed: | HMAS Vengeance |
| Commissioned: | 13 November 1952 |
| Decommissioned: | 25 October 1955 |
| Reclassified: | Training ship (1954–1955) |
| Motto: | "I Strike I Cover" |
| Fate: | Returned to Royal Navy, then sold to Brazilian Navy |
| Badge: |  |
 Brazil
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| Name: | Minas Gerais |
| Acquired: | 14 December 1956 |
| Commissioned: | 6 December 1960 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 October 2001 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 2004 |
| General characteristics (RN/RAN service) | |
| Class and type: | Colossus-class light aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 695 ft (212 m) |
| Beam: | 80 ft (24 m) |
| Draught: | 23.5 ft (7.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons geared turbines, 2 shafts, 42,000 shp (31,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph) |
| Range: | 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,076 |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 30–40 |
| Notes: | Taken from: |
HMS Vengeance (R71) was a Colossus-class light aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The carrier served in three navies during her career: the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy (as HMAS Vengeance, from 1952 to 1955), and the Brazilian Navy (as Minas Gerais, from 1956 to 2001).
Constructed during World War II, Vengeance was one of the few ships in her class to be completed before the war's end, but she did not see active service. The ship spent the next few years as an aircraft transport and training carrier before she was sent on an experimental cruise to learn how well ships and personnel could function in extreme Arctic conditions. In late 1952, Vengeance was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a replacement for the delayed aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. She remained in Australian waters, operating as an aircraft carrier and training ship, for the majority of her three-year loan, and was returned to the Royal Navy (RN) in August 1955.
Instead of returning to RN service, the carrier was sold in 1956 to Brazil, and entered service after major upgrades, which allowed the ship to operate jet aircraft. Renamed Minas Gerais, the carrier remained in operation until 2001. Several attempts were made to sell the ship, including a listing on eBay, before she was sold for scrap and taken to Alang for breaking up.
Vengeance was constructed by Swan Hunter. She was laid down on 16 November 1942, and launched on 23 February 1944. Construction was completed on 15 January 1945, and Vengeance was commissioned into the RN.
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