INDEX OF NAVAL
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
Light Fleet Carrier
Renamed Karel Doorman then
ARA Vientecinco de Mayo 1968 (Argentina)
25° de Mayo
(extant 1999-2000)
INDEX OF NAVALAIRCRAFT CARRIERS |
Light Fleet Carrier Renamed Karel Doorman then
|
 |
Former HMS Venerable as photographed in 1981 is still
extant as the ARA 25de Mayo (Argentina) although is reported to be a hulk
(2000)
Sold to the Netherlands as Karel Doorman II in May 1948. Reconstructed 1955-1958 with 8 degree angled deck.
The first foreign variant of the Sea Fury was the Sea Fury Mk. 50 for
the the Royal
Netherlands Navy for service on the ex-Royal Naval Escort Carrier Nairana.
Twelve more
were ordered in 1950, bringing the total to twenty four. A license
was acquired for
manufacture of Sea Furies by Fokker, and the license manufacture brought
the total of Dutch Sea Furies to 48. Many of these Sea Furies served with
the Royal Netherlands Navy aboard the Karel Doorman (previously HMS Venerable).
Paid off from Dutch service April 1968 due to a boiler room fire. Sold to Argentina as Veinticinco de Mayo (25° de Mayo) on 15 October 1968 and refitted with replacement boilers from the incomplete HMS Leviathan. Commissioned into Argentinean Navy 22 August 1969.
Out of service since June 1986, currently survives as a hulk although not yet stricken.
Plans to refit VEINTECINCO DE MAYO, originally issued in October 1990,
called for
completion of a refit by 1992 at the latest. However, the aircraft
carrier remains laid up at the navy yard at Puerto Belgrano, minus her
propulsion plant. In late 1994, Ficantieri of Italy was reportedly examining
proposals to completely overhaul and modernize the carrier although reports
suggest that lack of adequate funding (see
GDI reference of 1996). In January of 1999 she was reportedly towed
away for scrapping in India (see
Warship1 reference). According to the HMS Venerable Association she
was beached at Alang, India March 2000
Battle Honours
None in WWII: Pacific 1945-1946Captains
No information on Captains.Squadrons and Aircraft
None in WWIIAssociations and Reunions
HMS Venerable Association
Contact: Bas Redfern, Hazeldene, 64 Coppice Road, Talke, Stoke on Trent, Staffs. ST7 1UA. Tel: 01782 784876. Reunions at Somerset and Wavecrest Hotel, Llandudno. Reunion 30 March to 3 April 2001
Carrier name HMS Venerable
(Renamed Karel Doorman II then later sold to Argentina as 25 de Mayo)Class Colossus Type Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier Ships in Class Colossus, Vengeance, Venerable, Pioneer, Glory, Ocean, Perseus, Theseus, Triumph, Warrior Launched Laid down 3 December 1942. Launched 30 December 1943. Commissioned 17 January 1945. Tonnage Displacement: 13,400 tons standard ; 18,330 tons full load Engines Propulsion: Steam Turbines (4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, Parsons geared turbines), 40,000 shp. Speed in Knots Speed: 25 knots Armament Guns: 24 x 2 pdr AA ; 32 x 20 mm Crew Complement Compliment: 1300 (including air group) Range Range: 12,000 nmiles at 14 knots Length (ft/inches) Dimensions: 630 pp, 650 wl, 695 oa x 80 x 23.5 feet Beam (ft/inches) Draught (ft/inches) Flight Deck length (ft/inches) Flight Deck width (ft/inches) Armour Number of aircraft carried Aircraft: 48 Fate of carrier Out of service since June 1986, currently nothing more than a hulk although not yet stricken. Notes Scaled down version of Illustrious class but with a large aircraft compliment achieved by a lack of armour. Designed for rapid construction in merchant yards to make up for the shortfall in carriers but much more capable than escort carriers. Perseus and Pioneer were completed as maintenance carriers without catapults. After the war various units of the class were sold or reconstructed with angled decks or as helicopter carriers.
Last Modified: 23-2-2001
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