HMS Centaur
(Underhook Photo)
HMS Centaur leaving Portsmouth on July 19th 1954 heading to the Mediterranean.
HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to be completed with the original design configuration of a straight axial flight deck, rather than the newly invented angled flight decks of her three later sister ships. She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast, with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff, but not launched until 22 April 1947 due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1 September 1953, almost nine years from when she was laid down in 1944.
Centaur saw service throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Due to budgetary issues Centaur was not converted to a commando carrier like two of her sister ships. Centaur was withdrawn from service in August 1965 and sold for scrapping in 1972. (Wikipedia)
(MOD Photo)
HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to retain the original configuration with a straight axial flight deck rather than the angled flight decks of her three sister ships. 1965.
HMS Albion (R07)
HMS Albion (R07) was a 22,000-ton Centaur-class light fleet carrier of the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down in 1944 and launched in 1947 but did not enter service until 1954. She served in the Royal Navy into the early 1970s.
HMS Bulwark
(Royal Navy Photo)
The sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 ton Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier. Initially commissioned as a light aircraft carrier in 1954, the ship was converted into a commando carrier in 1958 and recommissioned as such in 1960. Bulwark remained in this capacity until 1979 following failed efforts to sell the ship, Bulwark re-entered service as an anti-submarine warfare carrier and remained as such until being decommissioned in 1981. The ship was scrapped in 1984. (Wikipedia)
(Royal Navy Photo)
HMS Bulwark.
(Royal Navy Photo)
HMS Bulwark.
(Royal Navy Photo)
HMS Bulwark.
HMS Hermes/INS Viraat
(Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Luchtmacht Photo)
HMS Hermes, with 4 Buccaneers, 5 Sea Vixens, and one Fairey Gannet.
HMS Hermes was a conventional British light aircraft carrier and the last of the Centaur class. Hermes was in service with the Royal Navy from 1959 until 1984, and she served as the flagship of the British forces during the 1982 Falklands War. After being sold to India in 1986, the vessel was recommissioned and remained in service with the Indian Navy as INS Viraat until 2017. (Wikipedia)
(Royal Navy Photo)
Type 22 Frigate HMS Broadsword alongside HMS Hermes during the Falklands War, 1982.