HMS Vindex (1915)
Side view of HMS Vindex, showing the prominent seaplane hangar aft
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Vindex |
| Builder: | Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick |
| Laid down: | 1904 |
| Launched: | 7 March 1905 |
| Completed: | 26 June 1905 |
| Acquired: | 26 March 1915 (chartered) |
| Commissioned: | 11 October 1915 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1954 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft/Seaplane carrier |
| Displacement: | 2,950 long tons (3,000 t) |
| Length: | 361 ft 6 in (110.2 m) |
| Beam: | 42 ft (12.8 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft 8 in (4.2 m) |
| Installed power: | 11,000 shp (8,200 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 23 kn (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range: | 995 nmi (1,843 km; 1,145 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 218 |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 7 |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 × flying-off deck forward |
HMS Vindex was a Royal Navy seaplane carrier during the First World War. The ship spent the bulk of her career operating the North Sea, where she twice unsuccessfully attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern and conducted anti-Zeppelin patrols. One of her Bristol Scout aircraft made the first take-off from an aircraft carrier in late 1915. Another made the first interception of an airship by a carrier-based aircraft on 2 August 1916, when it unsuccessfully attacked the Zeppelin LZ17. Vindex was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1918 and was sold back to her original owners in 1920. She was requisitioned again in 1939 and served through World War II as a troopship under a different name. After the end of the war, the ship was returned to her owners and was sold for scrapping in 1954.
The ship had an overall length of 361 feet 6 inches (110.2 m), a beam of 42 feet (12.8 m), and a draught of 13 feet 8 inches (4.2 m) at deep load. She displaced 2,950 long tons (3,000 t). Her three direct-drive steam turbines, each driving a propeller shaft, produced a total of 11,000 shaft horsepower (8,200 kW). Steam was provided by four boilers. The ship carried 475 long tons (483 t) of coal which meant that she could steam for 995 nautical miles (1,843 km; 1,145 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Her crew numbered 218, including 76 aviation personnel.
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