HMS Majestic (R77)/HMAS Melbourne (R21)
(USN Photo)
MAS Melbourne (R21) steams in San Diego Harbor, California (USA), in 1977.
HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1955 until 1982, and was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier[note 1] to serve in the RAN. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions (Melbourne–Voyager collision).
Melbourne was laid down for the Royal Navy as the lead ship of the Majestic class in April 1943, and was launched as HMS Majestic (R77) in February 1945. At the end of the Second World War, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the RAN in 1947. At the time of purchase, it was decided to incorporate new aircraft carrier technologies into the design, making Melbourne the third ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955.
Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her service career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in relation to the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and the Vietnam War. She was, however, involved in two major collisions with allied vessels; though Melbourne was not found to be the primary cause of either incident. The first collision occurred on the evening of 10 February 1964, in which Melbourne rammed and sank the RAN destroyer HMAS Voyager, when the latter altered course across her bow. 82 of Voyager’s personnel were killed, and two Royal Commissions were held to investigate the incident. The second collision occurred in the early morning of 3 June 1969, when Melbourne also rammed the United States Navy (USN) destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in similar circumstances. 74 American personnel died, and a joint USN–RAN Board of Inquiry was held. These incidents, along with several minor collisions, shipboard accidents and aircraft losses, led to the belief that Melbourne was jinxed.
Melbourne was paid off from RAN service in 1982. A proposal to convert her for use as a floating casino failed, and a 1984 sale was cancelled, before she was sold for scrap in 1985 and towed to China for breaking. The scrapping was delayed so Melbourne could be studied by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as part of a secret project to develop a Chinese aircraft carrier and used to train PLAN aviators in carrier flight operations. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
HMAS Melbourne (R21) moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (USA), her crew spelling out “Aloha” on her flight deck, 30 June 1958.
(USN Photo)
U.S. Navy guided missle cruiser USS Chicago (CG-11) and the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) underway in the Pacific Ocean during the exercise “Kangaroo III”, in October 1979.
(USN Photo)
HMAS Melbourne (R21) moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July 1958.
(USN Photo)
Royal Australian Navy Douglas A-4G Skyhawk (U.S. Navy BuNo 154903, RAN “882”) of VF-805 Squadron aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21). “882” was sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984.
(Sabrewyn Photo)
The Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) (foreground) and the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) underway on 16 May 1981. Midway, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5), was on a deployment to the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean from 23 February to 5 June 1981.
HMS Hercules/INS Vikrant (R11)
(Indian Navy Photo)
INS Vikrant (from Sanskrit vikrānta, “courageous”) was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Hercules for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, but was put on hold when the war ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
In its later years, the ship underwent major refits to embark modern aircraft, before being decommissioned in January 1997. She was preserved as a museum ship in the Naval Docks in Mumbai until 2012. In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November 2014 after final clearance from the Supreme Court. (Wikipedia)
(Indian Navy Photo)
INS Vikrant (R11).
HMS Terrible (93)/HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P214/L134)
(AWM Photo, 301423)
HMAS Sydney (R17).
HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P214/L134) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built for the Royal Navy and was launched as HMS Terrible (93) in 1944, but was not completed before the end of the Second World War. The carrier was sold to Australia in 1947, completed, and commissioned into the RAN as Sydney in 1948.
Sydney was the first of three conventional aircraft carriers[a] to serve in the RAN, and operated as the navy’s flagship during the early part of her career. From late 1951 to early 1952, she operated off the coast of Korea during the Korean War, making her the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion, and the only carrier in the RAN, to see wartime service. Retasked as a training vessel following the 1955 arrival of her modernised sister ship, HMAS Melbourne, Sydney remained in service until 1958, when she was placed in reserve as surplus to requirements.
The need for a sealift capability saw the ship modified for service as a fast troop transport, and recommissioned in 1962. Sydney was initially used for training and a single supply run in support of Malaysia’s defence policy against Indonesia, but in 1965, she sailed on the first voyage to Vũng Tàu, transporting soldiers and equipment to serve in the Vietnam War. 25 voyages to Vietnam were made between 1965 and 1972, earning the ship the nickname “Vung Tau Ferry”.
Sydney was decommissioned in 1973, and was not replaced. Despite several plans to preserve all or part of the ship as a maritime museum, tourist attraction, or car park, the carrier was sold to a South Korean steel mill for scrapping in 1975. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
Eight Fairey Firefly FR.1 and seven Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 overfly the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney (R17).