Spanish aircraft carrier Dédalo

History
Dédalo at sea on 1 June 1988
Spain
Name:	Dédalo
Laid down:	16 March 1942
Launched:	4 April 1943
Acquired:	30 August 1967 on loan Purchased outright 1972
Refit:	1976
Struck:	August 1989
Fate:	Scrapped 2002
Notes:	Served in United States Navy 1943–1947 and 1948–1955 as USS Cabot
General characteristics
Displacement:	11,000
Length:	622.5 ft (189.7 m)
Beam:	71.5 ft (21.8 m) (waterline) 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) (overall)
Draft:	26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power:	100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × B&W boilers 4 × General Electric turbines 4 × propellers
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement:	1112
Sensors and processing systems:	SPS-6 radar
Armament:	26 × Bofors 40 mm guns
Aircraft carried:	8 × AV-8S 8 × SH-3D A total of up to 33 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters
Aviation facilities:	Hangar: 70 m × 13 m × 5 m Flight deck: 168 × 22 m, 2 elevators

Dédalo (Spanish for Daedalus) was the first Spanish aircraft carrier and the second aviation ship in the Spanish Navy (after the seaplane tender and balloon ship Dédalo that took part in the landings at Al Hoceima in 1925). She remained the fleet's flagship until Príncipe de Asturias replaced her. Dédalo was formerly the World War II-era light aircraft carrier USS Cabot, which was acquired from the United States in the 1960s.

In 1967, after over twelve years in mothballs in the United States, Cabot was loaned to Spain. The loan was converted to a sale in 1972. Dédalo initially deployed with the Spanish Navy as a helicopter-only antisubmarine warfare carrier operating the SH-3D Sea King and other helicopters from 1967 to 1976.

After the world's first testing in November 8, 1972 it was decided to order and deploy short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) AV-8S Matadors (AV-8A Harrier) when Dédalo was overhauled. Since the Harriers' downdraft on vertical landing would have damaged the wooden deck, protective metal sheathing was installed on the rear area of the flight deck. The first batch of six AV-8S single seat and two TAV-8S two seat aircraft were delivered to the Armada Española throughout 1976. A second batch of four AV-8S aircraft was delivered in 1980. Unlike some carriers used for Harrier operations, a ski-jump to assist STOVL takeoff was never installed on Dédalo, limiting the maximum takeoff weight of the Harriers.

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