text:
1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier

The 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier, commonly referred to as the British Light Fleet Carrier, was a light aircraft carrier design created by the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and used by eight naval forces between 1944 and 2001. They were designed and constructed by civilian shipyards to serve as an intermediate step between the expensive, full-size fleet aircraft carriers and the less expensive but limited-capability escort carriers.

Sixteen Light Fleet carriers were ordered, and all were laid down to the Colossus class design during 1942 and 1943. However, only eight were completed to this design; of these, four entered service before the end of the war, and none saw front line operations. Two more were fitted with maintenance and repair facilities instead of aircraft catapults and arresting gear, and entered service as aircraft maintenance carriers. The final six were modified during construction to handle larger and faster aircraft, and were re-designated as the Majestic class. The construction of the six ships was suspended at the end of the war. Five were eventually completed with the last commissioning in 1961; however, the sixth, Leviathan, was dismantled for spare parts and scrap.

Although not completed in time to fight in the war, the carriers in Royal Navy service participated in the Korean War and the Suez Crisis. During the latter, two Colossus-class ships performed the first ship-based helicopter assault in history. Four Colossuses and all five completed Majestics were loaned or sold to seven foreign nations – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, and the Netherlands – with three ships serving in three different naval forces during their careers. Foreign-operated Light Fleets took part in the Korean War, the First Indochina War, the Vietnam War, the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the Falklands War.

Despite being intended as 'disposable warships', all of the completed Light Fleet carriers exceeded their planned three-year service life. The maintenance carriers were the first to be paid off in the 1950s, and by the 1960s, all of the Royal Navy carriers, (bar HMS Triumph (R16), which was later recommissioned as a repair ship) had been sold to other nations or for ship breaking. The carriers in other navies had longer service lives. At the time of her decommissioning in 2001, Minas Gerais was the oldest active aircraft carrier in the world. Despite attempts to preserve several of these carriers as museum ships, the last surviving example, INS Vikrant (1961), was sold for scrapping in 2014.

Design and construction
Experiences during the early part of the Second World War had demonstrated to the British that the Royal Navy needed access to defensive air cover for Allied fleets and convoys, which could only be provided by more aircraft carriers. In mid-1941, the Director of Naval Construction was instructed to investigate how best to achieve this without the lengthy construction times normally associated with carriers. The options were to refit the surviving Hawkins-class cruisers with flight decks and aviation facilities, convert additional merchant vessels and passenger liners into vessels similar to but more capable than previous merchant aircraft carriers, or create a new design for a cheap, lightly armed, and unarmoured ship similar to the American escort carriers. In December 1941, it was decided that a new design was the best option.

This ship was conceived as an intermediate step between the expensive fleet carriers and the limited-capability escort carriers. The design had to be as simple as possible so construction time was kept to a minimum and so more shipyards (particularly those with no naval construction experience) could be used. However, the ships had to be capable of operating in fleet actions. Originally designated the 'Intermediate Aircraft Carrier', the ships were reclassified as 'Light Fleet Carriers'. Because naval design staff were overworked, the carrier was primarily designed by shipbuilders at Vickers-Armstrong.

The Light Fleet design, completed at the start of 1942, was effectively a scaled-down Illustrious. Each carrier would displace 13,190 tons at standard load and 18,040 tons at full load, have a length of 690 ft at the flight deck and 695 ft overall, a maximum beam of 80 ft, and a draught of 18 ft at standard displacement, and 23 ft at full load displacement. The hull was built to Lloyd's specifications for merchant vessels from keel to maindeck, but incorporated better subdivision of compartments to reduce secondary damage by flooding.

The propulsion machinery was of a similar design to that used in cruisers—some of the steam turbines were sourced from cancelled cruisers. The machinery was arranged in two compartments (each containing two Admiralty 3-drum boilers and a Parsons geared turbine), which were staggered en echelon, with the starboard compartment forward of the port. These provided 40,000 shaft horsepower to two propeller shafts, driving the carriers at a maximum speed of 25 kn, with 15 kn as the designated economical speed.

The carriers were intended to be 'disposable warships': to be scrapped and replaced at the end of the war or within three years of entering service. However, all exceeded this planned service life, with one ship operating from 1945 to 2001.

Colossus class
Construction was approved by the Naval Board in February 1942, with the first two ships, HMS Colossus (R15) and HMS Glory (R62), laid down in March. During 1942 and 1943, another fourteen Light Fleet carriers (named the Colossus class after the lead ship) were laid down under the 1942 Programme, to be constructed by eight British shipyards. Although it was originally planned that each Light Fleet would be ready for service in 21 months, modifications to the design saw the planned construction time increase to 27 months. Even with the omission of several important pieces of backup equipment, only two ships met this target.

The ships were launched from late 1943 onwards, with the first commissioned in December 1944. However, the delays meant that only four ships (HMS Colossus (R15), HMS Glory (R62), HMS Venerable (R63), and HMS Vengeance (R71); formed up as the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron) were completed before the end of the Second World War, and only eight of the sixteen planned Light Fleets were completed as Colossus-class carriers.

During operational service, the living conditions aboard the Colossus-class ships were criticised, which resulted in the abolition of hammocks in favour of fixed bunks and the introduction of centralised eating arrangements in later warship designs.

Maintenance carriers
The impracticality of shore-based repair establishments in the Far East and Pacific theatres of the Second World War saw a requirement for aircraft maintenance carriers. Instead of building new ships from scratch, two under-construction Colossuses, HMS Perseus (R51) and HMS Pioneer (R76), were marked for conversion as they would enter service quicker, and could be converted back into operational aircraft carriers if required, a need which never arose. Both ships were completed before the end of the war, with Pioneer sailing to the Pacific in company with the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron; Pioneer had repaired 24 aircraft since her arrival in the Pacific.

As the ships were designed with the repair and transportation of aircraft in mind, much of the equipment required for carrier flight operations, including control facilities, arresting gear, and catapult, were not installed. This space was instead used for additional hangar room, repair and maintenance workshops, and system testing facilities.

Majestic class
The six remaining Light Fleet hulls were originally to be completed as Colossus-class ships, but the rapid development of carrier-based aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons required modifications to the original design. The catapult, arrestor cables, and aircraft lifts had to be upgraded to handle faster and heavier aircraft, while the flight deck was reinforced. Improved weapons and radars were fitted, and equipment to perform replenishment at sea was installed. The modifications increased the full-load displacement by 1,500 tons, and the draught by 1 ft. This led to the six ships being reclassified as the Majestic class in September 1945. Five carriers were launched before the end of the Second World War, with the sixth launched in late September 1945.

Following the war's end, work on the Majestic class was suspended, then restored to a low-priority status, with the rate of work increasing as foreign nations purchased the ships. Two, Magnificent and Terrible, entered service more-or-less as designed, but the next three were heavily upgraded with three British developments allowing the operation of larger, faster, jet-propelled aircraft: the angled flight deck, the steam catapult, and the mirror landing aid. The sixth, Leviathan, was not completed. Work was suspended in May 1946, and plans to convert her into a commando carrier or missile cruiser, or sell her to a foreign buyer, fell through. During the 1950s, she was used as an accommodation ship in Portsmouth Harbour and, in 1966, her boilers were removed and sold to the shipyard refitting the Colossus-class HNLMS Karel Doorman for Argentine service. Leviathan was scrapped in May 1968. None of the completed Majestic-class vessels saw service in the Royal Navy.

In 1943, eight 'Improved Majestics' were planned, but developments in carrier aviation and the rapid obsolescence of the Light Fleets and the wartime armoured carriers required a larger and more capable design, which became the four-ship Centaur class.

Aircraft
In the original design, each ship was capable of carrying 41 aircraft. A redesign of the available parking area on the flight deck in March 1942 saw the ships' air group expanded to 24 Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers and 24 Supermarine Seafire fighters, or 18 Barracudas and 34 Seafires. In RN service, the Barracuda was later replaced by the Fairey Firefly, and the Seafire was superseded by the Hawker Sea Fury during the Korean War. Early in their careers, HMS Glory (R62) and HMS Ocean (R68) were fitted out for night flying operations: these carriers were to embark a 32-strong air group; mixed between Fireflies and Grumman F6F Hellcats supplied by the United States as part of the Lend Lease program.

To launch and recover aircraft, the carriers were initially equipped with hydraulic catapults, arresting gear, and crash barriers. Aircraft were stored in a single hangar measuring 445 by, with a height clearance of 17 ft. This allowed the Light Fleets to later operate aircraft that the fleet carriers, which generally had two hangars with lower clearance in each, could not. The hangar was serviced by two aircraft lifts.

Armament
The Light Fleets were the first British aircraft carriers where the ship's air group was seen as the 'main armament'; any mounted weapons were to be for close-range anti-aircraft defence. The Colossus design called for six quadruple barrelled 2 pounder gun mounts, and 16 twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. Two 4-inch (102 mm) guns were originally included, but an increase in the design's flight deck length in March 1942 saw them displaced. The ships were unarmoured, as increasing the size of the vessels was deemed more important than protection.

Lessons learned during the early part of the Pacific War showed the superiority of the Bofors 40 mm gun to other anti-aircraft weapons. By the end of the war, all Colossus-class ships had swapped all their other weapons for Bofors in single and twin mountings, and the Majestic design had been modified to carry 30 of the guns: 18 single mountings, and 6 twin mountings. The number of Bofors carried by the Light Fleets was reduced after the war, with British ships carrying only eight.

Second World War and aftermath
Although four Colossus-class ships were completed before the end of the war, they did not see front-line action: the war in Europe had proceeded to the point where aircraft carriers were of limited use, and by the time the carriers reached the Pacific, Japan had surrendered. The four ships, assigned to the British Pacific Fleet, were instead used for the transportation of returning soldiers and rescued prisoners-of-war, to help alleviate the shortage of troopships and liners. As with the Colossus class, the maintenance carriers were completed but did not enter active service before the end of the war. They were reclassified as Ferry Carriers, and used to transport aircraft to British bases and ships across the world.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the carriers were used as testbeds for new aircraft and technology. Throughout late 1945, Ocean was used to test several new aircraft: the Hawker Sea Fury and de Havilland Sea Hornet piston-engine fighters during August, and the de Havilland Sea Vampire jet-propelled fighter-bomber in December. On 3 December 1945, a de Havilland Sea Vampire became the first jet aircraft to land on a carrier—two months before, Ocean's flight deck saw the last landing of a Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber. The angled flight deck concept (which would later be installed on several of the Majestic-class carriers) was first trialled aboard Triumph: the straight-line deck markings were removed, and markings for an angled landing painted on. After a two-year loan to Canada, Warrior served as a testbed for rubberised flexible decks and skid-like landing gear during 1948 and 1949. During 1951 and 1952, Perseus was used as a trials ship for the under-development steam catapult.

Korean War
The Colossus class first saw combat during the Korean War. Following the invasion of South Korea by North Korea on 25 June, ships of the British Far East Fleet that were operating in Japanese waters, including the carrier HMS Triumph (R16), were placed under the United States Far East Commander, to operate in retaliation to the invasion under the instructions of the United Nations Security Council. The first carrier attack began on 3 July 1950, with aircraft from Triumph and United States carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) performing air strikes on North Korean airfields.

Between them, the Colossus-class carriers Triumph, HMS Theseus (R64), HMS Glory (R62), and HMS Ocean (R68), along with the Majestic-class HMAS Sydney (R17), maintained a constant British aircraft carrier presence for the duration of the Korean War. The Light Fleets were cheaper to operate than the armoured fleet carriers while providing a similar sized air group, but during the war proved to be slower, less comfortable, and more prone to wear-and-tear than other RN carriers. Financial and manpower restrictions meant that only one Light Fleet could be deployed to Korea at a time. HMS Warrior (R31) also contributed to the Korean War effort by transporting replacement aircraft from the United Kingdom to British bases throughout the Far East region, which were then drawn upon by the active carriers.

Following the end of the Korean War, Warrior and Sydney returned to Korean waters on separate deployments, to ensure that the armistice was enforced and hostilities did not re-ignite.

Suez Crisis
HMS Ocean (R68) and HMS Theseus (R64) were part of the British response to the 1956 Suez Crisis. The two ships were not used as aircraft carriers; instead they were equipped with helicopters and tasked with transporting ashore 45 Commando, a battalion of the Royal Marines, in order to secure harbours and other landing points for heavy equipment. This, the first ship-based helicopter assault, was successful, and prompted the development of the amphibious assault ship.

Decommissioning and disposal

The two maintenance carriers were decommissioned during the 1950s and scrapped: Pioneer was sold in 1954, and Perseus in 1958. With the exception of HMS Triumph, the Colossus-class carriers that remained in RN service were disposed of during the early 1960s. None was significantly modernised during its service life. Triumph left service in 1958, underwent a major conversion into a Heavy Repair Ship, and re-entered service in 1965.

Foreign service
As Britain was unable to maintain the size of her wartime fleet after the end of the Second World War, several Colossus-class ships were placed into reserve, while work on the Majestic class was initially halted at the end of the war, then restored to a low-priority status. Demands for fiscal cutbacks, combined with the rapid obsolescence of the carriers by the development of jet aircraft, saw four of the eight Colossuses and all five completed Majestics sold off to other nations.

The majority of the Light Fleets in foreign service were modernised, either during construction or afterwards, to operate jet aircraft. This usually consisted of the installation of an angled flight deck, upgrading the aircraft catapult to be steam-powered, and installing an optical landing system: Australian Majestic-class carrier HMAS Melbourne was the third aircraft carrier in the world, after HMS Ark Royal (R09) and USS Forrestal (CV-59), to be constructed with these features instead of having them added later.

Argentina
After a two-year loan to Canada, and a second period in Royal Navy commission, Warrior was sold to the Argentine Navy in 1958, and commissioned as ARA Independencia on 11 November. She was equipped with Vought F4U Corsair, and she was proved unsuitable for the Grumman F9F Panther jet fighters incorporated in 1963. Independencia served as the Argentine flagship until she was replaced by the Dutch Karel Doorman (formerly HMS Venerable (R63)), which was sold on to Argentina in 1969 and commissioned as ARA Veinticinco de Mayo. Independencia was struck from service in 1971 and broken up for scrap.

Veinticinco de Mayo was initially equipped with F9F Panther and later with Douglas A-4 Skyhawk jet fighters; these were replaced with French Dassault Super Étendards in the 1980s. The carrier provided air cover for the Occupation of the Falkland Islands in April 1982. After hostilities broke out on 1 May 1982, it attempted an attack on the Royal Navy Task Force which did not take place, as poor winds prevented the heavily laden A-4Q jets from being launched. She remained confined to port for the rest of the Falklands War, particularly after the British submarine HMS Conqueror (S48) sank the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. Problems with her propulsion machinery meant that Veinticinco de Mayo was effectively inoperable from June 1986, although it was not until the start of 1999 that she was marked for scrapping.

Australia
In 1944, the Australian government suggested that Australian personnel be used to help counteract a personnel shortage in the Royal Navy by manning an aircraft carrier, one or more cruisers, and six destroyers. The Admiralty deemed a Colossus-class Light Fleet to be the most appropriate aircraft carrier, and Venerable was initially proposed for transfer to the Royal Australian Navy as a gift or on loan. The plan was deferred on the Australian end until a review of manpower requirements across the entire war effort was completed. The ship manning proposal was revisited in mid-1945, but the surrender of Germany in May meant that British shortages were not as problematic; as a counteroffer, the purchase of the Colossus-class Ocean by Australia was suggested. The Australian government decided against the purchase of Ocean in June.

Following the Second World War, a post-war review suggested that the Royal Australian Navy acquire three aircraft carriers as the core of a new fleet; funding restrictions saw the number of proposed carriers dropped to two. To this end, Australia acquired two Majestic-class ships: HMS Terrible (R93), which was commissioned in 1948 as HMAS Sydney (R17); and HMS Majestic (R77), which was upgraded for jet operations and commissioned in 1955 as HMAS Melbourne (R21). While waiting for Majestic/Melbourne to finish modernisation, the Colossus-class HMS Vengeance (R71) was loaned to Australia from 1952 until 1955, allowing it to operate a two-carrier fleet.

The first aircraft carrier acquired by the Royal Australian Navy, Sydney was deployed to Korea in order to maintain a consistent Commonwealth carrier presence in the conflict. Operating between September 1951 and January 1952, Sydney was the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion to see combat. Reclassified as a training ship in 1955, Sydney was decommissioned in 1958 but reactivated in 1962 as a fast troop transport. In her troopship role, Sydney travelled to Vietnam 25 times between 1965 and 1972. She was decommissioned in November 1973, and sold to a South Korean company for scrapping in 1975.

Although deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve on several occasions, and assigned to escort Sydney to and from Vietnam on three occasions, Melbourne was not directly involved in any conflict during her career. However, she collided with and sank two plane guard destroyers—HMAS Voyager (D04) in 1964, and USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) in 1969—which, along with several minor collisions and incidents, led to the reputation that the carrier was jinxed. Melbourne was sold to China for scrapping in 1985; instead of being broken up, she was studied as part of the nation's top-secret carrier development program, and may not have been dismantled until 2002. There were plans to replace Melbourne with the British carrier HMS Invincible (R05), but Invincible was withdrawn from sale following her service in the Falklands War, and a 1983 election promise to not replace the carrier saw the end of Australian carrier-based fixed-wing aviation.

Brazil
After Vengeance was returned from her loan to Australia, she was sold to the Brazilian Navy on 14 December 1956. From mid-1957 until December 1960, the carrier underwent a massive refit and reconstruction at Verolme Dock in Rotterdam; the work performed included the installation of an 8.5-degree angled flight deck and a steam catapult, strengthening of arresting gear, and reinforcing of the hangar lifts. The carrier was commissioned into the Marinha do Brasil (MB, Brazilian Navy) as Minas Gerais on 6 December 1960.

The Brazilian carrier was equipped with Grumman S-2E Tracker fixed-wing aircraft, and Sikorsky ASH-3D Sea King, AS-355 Ecureuil, and AS332 Super Puma helicopters. Brazilian law prevented the MB from operating fixed-wing aircraft, so two separate air groups had to be embarked. In 1999, the MB acquired Douglas A-4KU Skyhawks—the first time Brazilian naval aviators were permitted to operate fixed-wing aircraft until the carrier's 2001 decommissioning. Minas Gerais was replaced by NAe São Paulo (the former French carrier FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Foch).

Minas Gerais was the last of the Second World War-era light aircraft carriers to leave service, and at the time of her decommissioning was the oldest active aircraft carrier in the world. The carrier was marked for sale in 2002, and was actively sought after by British naval associations for return to England and preservation as a museum ship, although they were unable to raise the required money. In December 2003 the carrier was listed for sale on auction website eBay, but was removed because the site's rules prevented the sale of military ordnance. Sometime between February and July 2004, the carrier was towed to the ship breaking yards at Alang, India, for dismantling.

Canada
Following wartime experience showing the effectiveness of naval aviation, the Royal Canadian Navy decided to acquire an aircraft carrier. The Canadian government decided to purchase the Majestic-class carrier Powerful, and have her upgraded to modern standards. The Colossus-class HMS Warrior (R31) was transferred on a two-year loan from 1946 to 1948, so the experience gained by providing ship's companies for two British escort carriers during the war could be maintained. The upgrading of Powerful took longer than expected, and as Warrior had to be returned by 1948, Magnificent was completed to the basic Majestic design and loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1948 as HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21). On her return to Britain, Warrior was used as a trials ship, then modernised before her sale to Argentina. The loan of Magnificent continued until the completion of Powerful in 1957, at which point Magnificent was returned to the British. She was to be sold to another nation, but after no buyers came forward, the carrier was scrapped.

In the meantime, Powerful had been upgraded to operate jet aircraft. The modifications included an 8° angled flight deck and steam catapult, and she was equipped with American weapons, radars, and jet aircraft instead of their British equivalents. She was commissioned in 1957 as HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22). The carrier's design could not keep up with the advances in naval aircraft during the early 1960s, and in 1962, the ship's McDonnell F2H Banshee fighters were retired, leaving an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) focused air group of Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King helicopters and Grumman S-2 Tracker ASW aircraft. Bonaventure received a major mid life refit in 1967, but was withdrawn in 1970 after defence cuts. Her departure marked the end of Canadian carrier-based aviation.

France
Lead ship HMS Colossus (R15) was loaned to the French Navy in August 1946 and renamed Arromanches. The vessel remained in French service, and was purchased outright in 1951. She was deployed to French Indochina, and operated during the First Indochina War from 1949 to 1954. After the war's end, the carrier was assigned to the Mediterranean. She participated in the 1956 Suez Crisis, operating air strikes against Egyptian positions around Port Said. A modernisation from 1957 to 1958 saw the installation of a 4° angled flight deck and an optical landing system, allowing Arromanches to operate Breguet Alizé anti-submarine aircraft.

Arromanches was replaced in active service by the French-built Clemenceau class, and was converted into a training ship in 1960. Apart from a short stint as an anti-submarine carrier in 1968, the ship remained in this role until her 1974 decommissioning. Arromanches was broken up for scrap in 1978.

India
Work on the Majestic-class HMS Hercules (R49) was suspended in May 1946, with the ship about 75% complete. The carrier remained in an unfinished condition until January 1957, when she was purchased by the Indian Navy. Fitted with an angled flight deck, Hercules was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Vikrant in 1961. Vikrant was not involved in the 1962 Sino-Indian War or the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War because she was docked for maintenance and refits on both occasions. She did operate during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, with her air group performing strike and interdiction operations in East Pakistan.

A major upgrade between 1979 and 1982 saw the carrier fitted with a new propulsion system, an updated radar suite, and a 9.75° ski-jump ramp to be used by Sea Harriers. The carrier was last deployed in 1994, and she was decommissioned in 1997. Vikrant helped the Indian Navy to become the dominant regional power.

Following her decommissioning, Vikrant was marked for preservation as a museum ship. Vikrant was opened to the public by the Indian Navy for short periods, but the inability to find an operating partner, lack of funds, and the deterioration of the ship led to the closure of the museum in 2012, and the sale of the vessel for ship breaking in early 2014.

Netherlands
The Royal Netherlands Navy acquired the Colossus-class HMS Venerable (R63) in 1948, and commissioned her as HNLMS Karel Doorman. Initially, the carrier operated piston-engined aircraft, but underwent modernisation from 1955 to 1958, including a steam catapult, reinforced flight deck and aircraft lifts, and an 8° angled deck. Between the upgrade and 1964, Karel Doorman possessed a mixed air group of jet fighters, anti-submarine aircraft, and helicopters; the fixed-wing aircraft were removed in that year.

In 1968, Karel Doorman was heavily damaged by fire. She was repaired with equipment stripped from other Light Fleet carriers in reserve and awaiting disposal. However, before the fire, the Royal Netherlands Navy was reconsidering carrier-based operation, and instead of returning her to service, Karel Doorman was sold to Argentina.

title: 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier


text:
Amboyna massacre

The Amboyna massacre (also known as the Amboyna trial) was the 1623 torture and execution on Ambon Island (present-day Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia) of twenty-one men, including ten in the service of the English East India Company, as well as Japanese and Portuguese traders and a Portuguese man, by agents of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), on accusations of treason. It was the result of the intense rivalry between the East India companies of England and the United Provinces in the spice trade and remained a source of tension between the two nations until late in the 17th century.

Background
From its inception, the Dutch Republic was at war with the Spanish crown (which was in a dynastic union with the Portuguese crown from 1580 to 1640). In 1598 the king of Spain embargoed Dutch trade with Portugal, and so the Dutch went looking for spices themselves in the areas that had been apportioned to Portugal under the Treaty of Tordesillas. In February, 1605 Steven van der Hagen, admiral of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), conquered the Portuguese fortress of Victoria at Amboyna, thereby taking over the Portuguese trading interests at Victoria. Like other European traders they tried to obtain a local monopsony in the spice trade by keeping out the factors of other European countries by force of arms. This especially caused strife with the English East India Company while the actions of the interloper Sir Edward Michelborne incensed the Dutch. Unavoidably, the national governments got involved, and this threatened the congenial relations between James I of England and the Dutch States General.

King James I and the Netherlands States General caused the two warring companies to conclude a Treaty of Defence in London in 1619 creating cooperation in the East Indies. The market in spices was divided between them in a fixed proportion of two to one (both companies having legal monopolies in their home markets); a Council of Defence was instituted in Batavia that was to govern the merchants of both companies; most important, those merchants were now to share trading posts peacefully, though each company was to retain and police the posts it had occupied. The Dutch interpreted this latter provision to mean that each company had legal jurisdiction over the employees of both companies in the places it administered. Contrarily, the English maintained, on the basis of the arbitration-article 30 of the treaty, that only the Council of Defence would have jurisdiction over employees of the "other" company. This proved to be an important difference of opinion in the ensuing events.

The incident
Despite the treaty, relations between the two companies remained tense. Both parties developed numerous grievances against each other including bad faith, non-performance of treaty-obligations, and "underhand" attempts to undercut each other in the relations with the indigenous rulers with whom they dealt. In the Amboyna region, local VOC-governor Herman van Speult had trouble, in late 1622, with the Sultan of Ternate, who showed signs of intending to switch allegiance to the Spanish. Van Speult suspected the English of secretly stirring up these troubles.

As a result, the Dutch at Amboyna became suspicious of the English traders that shared the trading post with them. These vague suspicions became concrete when in February 1623 one of the Japanese mercenary soldiers (ronin, or masterless samurai in the employ of the VOC ) was caught in the act of spying on the defenses of the fortress Victoria. When questioned under torture the soldier confessed to a conspiracy with other Japanese mercenaries to seize the fortress and assassinate the governor. He also implicated the head of the English factors, Gabriel Towerson, as a member of the conspiracy. Subsequently, Towerson and the other English personnel in Amboyna and adjacent islands were arrested and questioned. In most, but not all cases, torture was used during the questioning. Torture consisted of having water poured over the head, around which a cloth was draped, bringing the interrogated repeatedly close to suffocation (this is today called waterboarding). This was the usual interrogative procedure in the Dutch East Indies at the time. According to the English version of events, even more sadistic forms of torture were used. The accused conspirators were stretched on the rack, subjected to flame, stabbed, and several had their limbs blown off by gunpowder. This was later disputed by the Dutch. According to Dutch trial records, most suspects confessed that they were guilty as charged, with or without being tortured. Since the accusation was treason, those that had confessed (confession being necessary for conviction under Roman Dutch law) were sentenced to death by a court consisting of the governor and Council of the VOC at Amboina. However, four of the English and two of the Japanese condemned were subsequently pardoned. Consequently, ten Englishmen, nine Japanese  and one Portuguese (the latter being employees of the VOC), were executed. On 9 March 1623 they were beheaded, and the head of the English captain, Gabriel Towerson, was impaled on a pole for all to see. The incident ended any hope of Anglo-Dutch cooperation in the area, a goal that both governments had been pursuing for several years, and marked the beginning of Dutch ascendancy in the Indies.

Aftermath
In the summer of 1623, the Englishmen who had been pardoned and acquitted sailed to Batavia and complained to the Dutch governor-general Pieter de Carpentier and the Council of Defence about the Amboyna affair, which they said was a false accusation based upon a fantasy and that the confessions had been obtained only by severe torture. When they were unable to obtain redress in Batavia, they traveled to England, accompanied by the English factor at Batavia. Their story caused an uproar in England. The directors of the EIC asked that the English government demand reparations from the VOC and exemplary punishment of the Amboina judges from the Dutch government.

According to the English ambassador Sir Dudley Carleton, the version of events as he presented it also caused much anger at the VOC in Dutch government circles. However, the VOC soon presented its version of events which contradicted the English version in essential respects. The Dutch States General proposed a joint Anglo-Dutch commission of inquiry to establish the facts, but the suggestion was rejected by the English as too time-consuming. The Dutch did not want to execute the culprits of the torture and executions summarily as the English wished, so the States General commissioned an inquiry by delegated judges from the highest courts in the Dutch republic to investigate the matter. The Amboyna judges were recalled from the East-Indies and put under house arrest.

The trial progressed slowly because the court of inquiry wished to cross-examine the English witnesses. The English government balked at this demand because it felt it could not compel the witnesses to travel to the Republic. Besides, as the English based their case on the incompetence of the court to try employees of the EIC (according to the English interpretation of the Treaty of Defence), the executions were ipso facto illegal in the English view and, therefore, constituted a judicial murder. This contention could be decided without an examination of the witnesses. The Dutch, however, maintained that the court at Amboyna had been competent and therefore concentrated their inquiry on possible misconduct of the judges.

The English witnesses traveled to the Dutch republic in 1630 with Sir Henry Vane the Elder. They were made available to the court under restrictive conditions. The draft-verdict of the court (an acquittal of the accused) was presented to the new English king Charles I in 1632 for approval (as agreed beforehand by the two governments). It was rejected, but the accused judges were released by the Dutch authorities.

As part of Treaty of Westminster (1654) which ended the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654), a binational arbitration committee was established which ordered that reparations be paid by the VOC to the heirs of the English victims of the massacre. Towerson's heirs and others received £3,615 and the EIC £85,000 from the VOC.

War of pamphlets

The East India Company was unhappy with the outcome, and in 1632 its directors published an exhaustive brochure, comprising all the relevant papers, with extensive comments and rebuttals of the Dutch position. The Dutch had already sought to influence public opinion with an anonymous pamphlet, probably authored by its secretary, Willem Boreel in 1624. At the time, ambassador Carleton had procured its suppression as a "libel" by the States General. However, an English minister in Flushing, John Winge, inadvertently translated it and sent it to England, where it displeased the East India Company.

The East India Company brochure contained the gruesome details of the tortures, as related in its original "Relation". The massacre was used as casus belli for the First Anglo-Dutch war, and the brochure was reprinted as "A Memento for Holland" (1652). The Dutch lost the war and were forced to accept a condition in the 1654 Treaty of Westminster, calling for the exemplary punishment of any surviving culprits. However, no culprits appear to have been still alive at the time. Moreover, after arbitration on the basis of the treaty, the heirs of the English victims were awarded a total of £3615 in compensation.

The brochure and its allegations also played a role at the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. One of the casus belli used for the annexation of the Dutch colony New Netherland was the Amboyna Massacre. The Treaty of Breda (1667) ending this war appeared to have finally settled the matter.

However, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the matter was again raised in a propagandistic context. John Dryden wrote a play, entitled "Amboyna or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants", apparently at the behest of his patron who had been one of the chief negotiators of the Secret treaty of Dover that caused England's entry into that war. The play embellishes the affair by attributing the animus of Governor Van Speult against Gabriel Towerson to an amorous rivalry between the (fictitious) son of the governor and Towerson over an indigenous princess. After the son rapes the princess, Towerson kills the son in a duel. The governor then takes his revenge in the form of the massacre.

Jonathan Swift refers to the massacre in Book 3, Chapter 11 of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels (1726). Lemuel Gulliver pretends to be a "Hollander" and boards a Dutch ship named the Amboyna when he leaves Japan. He conceals from the crew the fact that he has not performed the ceremony demanded by the Japanese of "trampling upon the Crucifix" because, "if the secret should be discovered by my countrymen, the Dutch, they would cut my throat in the voyage."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Amboyna massacre


text:
HMS Glory (R62)

HMS Glory (R62) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy laid down on 27 August 1942 by Harland and Wolff at Belfast. She was launched on 27 November 1943 by Lady Cynthia Brooke, wife of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Operational service
The ship was commissioned on 2 April 1945, and left for the Pacific with an air wing of Barracudas (837 Naval Air Squadron) and Corsairs (1831 Naval Air Squadron). At Sydney, she joined the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet as the war was ending. Glory under the command of Anthony Wass Buzzard came to Rabaul shortly thereafter on 6 September 1945 to accept the surrender of the Japanese garrison there.

One member of her crew on this first voyage was Charles Causley, the Cornish poet and broadcaster, who served as a Chief Petty Officer Coder. In 1945, whilst serving in Glory, he wrote the poem 'The Song of the Dying Gunner AA1' He subsequently published further two poems about the ship and this period: 'HMS Glory' (a description, in the ship's personified own 'voice', of Belfast and of its departure from that city for the Far East) and 'HMS Glory at Sydney' (a longer piece from the writer's own perspective reminiscing about his experience of the ship's spell in Australia, and his shipmates). In various prose pieces, he also describes several other aspects and episodes of the time, such as the Japanese surrender.

After the surrender at Rabaul, Glory assisted in the retaking of Hong Kong, and then sailed to Australia and Canada to return Commonwealth troops to their respective countries. The ship returned to the United Kingdom in 1947 and was then placed in reserve. In November 1949, the ship was taken out of reserve and fully returned to service just over a year later in December 1950.

Glory then deployed to Korea in April 1951 for the first of three wartime deployments. The first deployment ended in September of that year, but Glory was back on station from January to May 1952 and November 1952 to May 1953. After the very active service of the Korean War, Glory saw out 1954 as a ferry, troop carrier and helicopter base. 1956 saw the end of the ship's active career, as she was placed in reserve. In 1961, Glory was sold to Thos. W. Ward for scrapping at Inverkeithing.

Saluting guns
Whilst in reserve at Rosyth, four guns were removed and supplied to HMS Caledonia for use as a saluting battery. The four guns were described as "Ordnance, quick firing, Hotchkiss, 3 pdr, Mark 1" and were dated as being manufactured in 1888, 1898, 1904 & 1915. These guns were used by the apprentices in HMS Caledonia to salute visiting royalty and ships until the closure of the Marine Engineering School in 1985. HMS Caledonia (1946 shore establishment) was an artificers' training establishment commissioned in 1946 and paid off in 1985.

title: HMS Glory (R62)


text:
HMS Vengeance (R71)

HMS Vengeance (R71) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The carrier served in three navies during her career: the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy (as HMAS Vengeance, from 1952 to 1955), and the Brazilian Navy (as NAeL Minas Gerais, from 1956 to 2001).

Constructed during World War II, Vengeance was one of the few ships in her class to be completed before the war's end, but she did not see active service. The ship spent the next few years as an aircraft transport and training carrier before she was sent on an experimental cruise to learn how well ships and personnel could function in extreme Arctic conditions. In late 1952, Vengeance was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a replacement for the delayed aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21). She remained in Australian waters, operating as an aircraft carrier and training ship, for the majority of her three-year loan, and was returned to the Royal Navy (RN) in August 1955.

Instead of returning to RN service, the carrier was sold in 1956 to Brazil, and entered service after major upgrades, which allowed the ship to operate jet aircraft. Renamed Minas Gerais, the carrier remained in operation until 2001. Several attempts were made to sell the ship, including a listing on eBay, before she was sold for scrap and taken to Alang for breaking up.

Design and construction
Vengeance was constructed by Swan Hunter. She was laid down on 16 November 1942, and launched on 23 February 1944. Construction was completed on 15 January 1945, and Vengeance was commissioned into the RN.

The Colossus-class carriers were intended to be 'disposable warships': they were to be operated during World War II and scrapped at the end of hostilities or within three years of entering service. Despite this prediction, Vengeance had a service life of over 55 years.

Weapons and systems
Her initial armament consisted of six quadruple QF 2 pounder naval guns (known as pom-poms) and 19 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. In 1945, after being assigned to the British Pacific Fleet, eight of the Oerlikons were replaced with eight single Bofors 40 mm guns; these guns provided better protection against Japanese kamikaze aircraft.

When commissioned into the RAN in 1952, the weapons outfit included 12 Bofors 40 mm guns and 32 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

Aircraft
During her service in the RAN, Vengeance carried a squadron each of Hawker Sea Furies and Fairey Fireflies. The carrier's air group included three Bristol Sycamore, acquired by the RAN after observing the performance of a United States Navy Sycamore operating from HMAS Sydney (R17) during her Korean War deployment. Although not the first helicopters to see military service in Australia (that title belonging to a Sikorsky S-51 of the Royal Australian Air Force), the Sycamores formed the first Australian military helicopter squadron, and led to the establishment of Australia's first helicopter pilot school. All three helicopters were brought out from England aboard Vengeance.

RN service
On 11 March 1945, Vengeance left the River Clyde for working-up trials in Malta. These were completed by 21 May, when she was assigned to the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet. The carrier sailed to Sydney via Alexandria, Port Said, Trincomalee, and Fremantle, arriving on 26 July. While alongside in Sydney, eight Oerlikons were replaced with eight single Bofors 40 mm guns; these guns provided better protection against Japanese kamikaze aircraft. Vengeance was assigned to Task Group 111.2 of the British Pacific Fleet, and was to be deployed as part of the force attacking Japanese-held Truk, but did not leave Sydney until the war ended. Following the end of the war Vengeance was ordered to Hong Kong, and on 3 September was used as the venue for the Japanese surrender of the territory.

She remained in the area until the end of 1945, sailed to Australia for a refit, then returned to Hong Kong. In April 1946, Vengeance delivered No. 11 and No. 17 Squadrons of the Royal Air Force to Miho, Ibaraki in Japan, where they were assigned as part of British Commonwealth Occupation Force. Vengeance remained in Eastern waters until 20 July 1946, when she departed for England. The ship arrived at Devonport on 13 August after visiting Trincomalee, and at the end of the year was reassigned as a Scotland-based training carrier.

Vengeance visited Oslo and Trondheim in June 1947, with First Sea Lord Sir John Cunningham aboard. During early 1948, the carrier was attached to the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Squadron, part of the British Home Fleet. She visited St Helena in October, and cruised with the Squadron in South African waters until mid-November. On her return to the UK, Vengeance was converted for Arctic conditions, and from 5 February 1949 to 8 March 1949 operated in Arctic waters as part of Operation Rusty: an experimental cruise to determine how well ships, aircraft, and personnel functioned in extreme cold.

Loan to Australia
In June 1951, following the receipt of advice that the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) would not be completed until at least March 1954, the Australian Defence Committee recommended that Australia request the RN loan a carrier to the RAN. The new predicted date of completion for Melbourne was 21 months later than previous predictions, on which the establishment of two-carrier naval aviation in the RAN had been dependent. The Navy sought a four-year loan of an aircraft carrier from late 1952 to late 1956, to cover both the delays with Melbourne and the planned upgrading of HMAS Sydney (R17) once Melbourne was in service. The Australian government proposed that the loaned carrier be modified to operate both Sea Venom and Gannet aircraft, so that Melbourne and the loaned carrier could both see active service while Sydney was upgraded, but withdrew the suggestion when informed by the Admiralty that providing such capability would require the installation of a new arrestor cable system, prevent the loaned carrier from entering service until at least March 1954, and would be paid for entirely by Australia. Several smaller modifications were approved and paid for by Australia, including the installation of additional aircrew accommodation.

Vengeance was the carrier selected for the loan, and modifications for Australian service were completed in January 1952. In order to provide personnel for the loaned carrier, the RAN had to place the light cruiser HMAS Hobart (1939) into reserve. The loan was approved, with the British government choosing not to charge Australia for the loan, but stating that all operational costs would be met by the RAN, including the initial outfit of stores. In mid-1952, the liner Asturias was chartered by the RAN to transport a commissioning crew to England.

RAN service
Vengeance was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy on 13 November 1952. She was recommissioned as an Australian ship on this date, and received the prefix HMAS. Departing from Devonport at the end of 1952, the carrier sailed to Australia via the Mediterranean, and arrived in Fremantle on 26 February 1953. She reached Sydney in March, and was marked as fully operational in June. In late 1953, Vengeance was prepared for a deployment to Korea, to support the United Nations enforcement of the July 1953 armistice. The deployment did not go ahead: HMAS Sydney was sent instead.

From February until April 1954, Vengeance was tasked with escorting the royal yacht SS Gothic (1947) through Australian waters during the Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Australia. On 9 March 1954, while in Port Philip Bay, a whaler transporting 30 sailors to the carrier hit a series of freak waves and capsized. Two sailors were killed. Navy divers were involved in rescuing the survivors, with one earning the British Empire Medal for his efforts. On 3 April, while escorting Gothic to the Cocos Islands with the destroyers HMAS Bataan (I91) and HMAS Anzac (D59) accompanying, Vengeance's ship's company assembled on the flight deck and positioned themselves to form the Queen's signature. After later seeing an aerial photograph of this, Her Majesty had a message sent to the carrier, saying "Thank you for the original forgery." On 5 April, after arriving at the Cocos Islands, Vengeance was involved in a collision with Bataan while the destroyer attempted to refuel from the carrier. Bataan's bow made contact with Vengeance's side, but the damage was minor, and both ships returned to Sydney in May without assistance, after visiting Manus Island and Rabaul.

In June 1954, Vengeance was removed from active service and reclassified as the RAN's primary training ship. The previous training ship, the cruiser HMAS Australia (D84), had been earmarked in mid-1953 to be decommissioned and scrapped, as modernising her would have been uneconomical. At the same time, the RAN was exploring avenues to reduce operating costs: the reduction of naval aviation from two active carriers to one would provide significant savings. The removal of Vengeance from active service, combined with the need to find a replacement training ship for Australia which was large enough to accommodate the large number of National Service trainees, saw the carrier placed in the training role. On 31 August, Vengeance accompanied Australia during the latter's final voyage before decommissioning. The carrier sailed to Japan in late October; her first departure from Australian waters while in RAN service. Vengeance returned to Australia in November, after collecting No. 77 Squadron RAAF.

Return to Britain and sale to Brazil
In May 1955, Sydney assumed Vengeance's training carrier duties as well as her own flagship and operation duties, while the latter carrier was prepared for the return to England. Vengeance left for the UK in June, stopping in Singapore to collect a squadron of RN helicopters. Arriving on 13 August, her RAN crew prepared the carrier for reserve, and Vengeance was decommissioned on 25 October. The personnel were used as the first ship's company of HMAS Melbourne (R21), which was commissioned on 28 October 1955.

Vengeance was not reactivated for RN use, and on 14 December 1956, the carrier was sold by the Admiralty to Brazil for US$9 million. From mid-1957 until December 1960, the carrier underwent a massive refit and reconstruction at Verolme Dock in Rotterdam, which cost US$27 million. Modifications included the installation of an 8.5-degree angled flight deck, a more powerful steam catapult, stronger arresting gear, reinforced hangar lifts and a mirror landing aid. This was to allow the operation of jet aircraft, which were larger, faster, and heavier than the propeller aircraft previously operated by the carrier. A new superstructure was fitted, including a large lattice mast to support a new radar suite and fire control system. Boiler capacity was increased, and the internal electrics were converted to AC power. The length of the modernisation refit meant that while the carrier was the first purchased by a Latin American nation, she was the second to enter service; another Colossus-class carrier entered service with the Argentine Navy as ARA Independencia in July 1959.

The carrier was commissioned into the Marinha do Brasil (MB, Brazilian Navy) as NAeL Minas Gerais on 6 December 1960. She departed Rotterdam for Rio de Janeiro on 13 January 1961.

MB service
In 1965, President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco outlawed the operation of fixed-wing aircraft by the MB; this remained the responsibility of the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian Air Force). As a result, Minas Gerais was required to embark two air groups: the Navy operated helicopters while the Air Force operated S-2 Tracker aircraft. Consequently, the ship spent most of her Brazilian career operating as an anti-submarine warfare carrier.

Minas Gerais underwent another major refit from 1976 to 1981, during which her radar suite was updated, datalinks were installed, and the ship's life expectancy was increased to the 1990s. From 1986, engine and funding problems saw the Argentine Navy's ARA Veinticinco de Mayo confined to port, making Minas Gerais the only operating carrier in the South American region.

From July 1991 to October 1993, the carrier underwent another modernisation refit; the work included refurbishment of her propulsion system, upgrades to the command and control system and radars, and replacement of the ship's Bofors with Mistral surface-to-air missiles. In 1999, the MB acquired 20 A-4KU Skyhawks and 3 TA-4KU trainer aircraft from the Kuwait Air Force; the first time since the carrier's commissioning that Forca Aeronaval da Marinha (Brazilian Navy Aviation) had been permitted to own and operate fixed-wing aircraft.

Decommissioning and fate
Minas Gerais was decommissioned on 16 October 2001: the last of the World War II-era light aircraft carriers to leave service. At the time of her decommissioning, she was the oldest active aircraft carrier in the world (a title passed on to the 1961-commissioned USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)). The carrier was marked for sale in 2002, and was actively sought after by British naval associations for return to England and preservation as a museum ship, although they were unable to raise the required money.

Just before Christmas 2003, the carrier was listed for sale on auction website eBay by a user claiming to be a shipbroker representing the owner. Bidding reached £4 million before the auction was removed from the website under rules preventing the sale of military ordnance. An auction in Rio de Janeiro in February 2004 also failed to sell the ship. Sometime between February and July 2004, the carrier was towed to the ship breaking yards at Alang, India, for dismantling.

External links and further reading

 * – an autobiography by James Lovelock. The first part of chapter 4 (pp. 91–99) contains Lovelock's recount of the 1949 Vengeance voyage into Arctic waters.
 * Friends of the Vengeance – the proposal to convert Vengeance/Minas Gerais into a museum ship.

title: HMS Vengeance (R71)


text:
HMS Pioneer (R76)

HMS Pioneer was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was modified whilst under construction into an aircraft maintenance carrier. The ship arrived in Australia in mid-1945 to support operations by the British Pacific Fleet against Japanese forces. She supported the British attacks on the Japanese Home Islands from mid-June until the end of the war in August from a base in the Admiralty Islands. The ship and her facilities were used to help repair Hong Kong's infrastructure in late 1945 and she returned to the UK in early 1946. Pioneer was immediately placed in reserve upon her arrival and she was sold in 1954 for scrap.

Design, description and construction
The Colossus-class aircraft carriers were intended to meet a shortage of naval flight decks. Their design was based on that of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers, but modified to permit rapid construction in commercial yards. Pioneer was not completed to her original design; the success of the maintenance aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn (I72) prompted modification of the ship, whilst under construction, to an aircraft maintenance ship without aircraft catapults.

Pioneer had an overall length of 695 ft, a beam of 80 ft, and a draught of 23 ft at deep load. She displaced 12000 LT at standard load. Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft. Steam was supplied by four Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers operating at a pressure of 400 psi. The turbines were designed for a total of 40000 shp and gave Pioneer a speed of 25 kn. The ship carried 3196 LT of fuel oil which gave her a range of 8500 nmi at 11 kn.

In order to maximize space for workshops and stores, the ship's arresting gear and catapult were not fitted; two large deckhouses were added to port of the island and on the rear of the flight deck. The ship had a single hangar, 17 ft high. Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by two aircraft lifts; each measured 34 x. Two large cranes were mounted on the flight deck to move aircraft and stores to and from the flight deck. The ship carried two small self-propelled lighters to allow unflyable aircraft to be transferred between ships or to shore facilities. Bulk petrol storage consisted of 98600 impgal. The ship's crew totaled 854, plus 222 in her aircraft repair department.

The ship was equipped with six quadruple mounts for the 40 mm QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun ("pom-pom"). These gun mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +80°. The Mk VIII 2-pounder gun fired a 40 mm shell to a distance of 3800 yd at a rate of fire of approximately 96–98 rounds per minute per barrel. She was also fitted with 19 Bofors 40 mm guns in single mounts. The Bofors had a rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute and a maximum range of 10750 yd. All of the guns were mounted on the flight deck, not in sponsons on the side of the hull like her half-sisters that were completed as aircraft carriers. Each "pom-pom" mount was provided with a separate fire-control director fitted with a Type 262 gunnery radar.

Pioneer was ordered on 7 August 1942 under the name Ethalion, but was renamed Mars later in 1942. She was laid down at Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness on 2 December and was launched on 20 May 1944 The ship was renamed Pioneer in July 1944 after the decision had been made to convert her to an aircraft maintenance ship. and was completed on 8 February 1945.

Service
After working up, Pioneer sailed for Australia on 30 March 1945. She arrived in Sydney on 13 May and was transferred to Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, on 21 June to prepare for operations off Japan. She was still there when Japan surrendered on 15 August and had repaired 24 aircraft since her arrival. Pioneer arrived in Hong Kong in late September to help with the rebuilding of the colony's infrastructure. Her sailors restored power, telephone service and repaired trains and buses. She made one trip back to Manus, but was back in Hong Kong in late November. The ship sailed for Sydney the following month and departed for the UK on 17 February 1946. Upon her arrival, she was placed in reserve. Pioneer was sold to Thos. W. Ward for scrap in September 1954 and broken up in Inverkeithing.

title: HMS Pioneer (R76)


text:
HMS Venerable (R63)

HMS Venerable (R63) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. She served for only the last few months of World War II, and in 1948 she was sold to the Netherlands and renamed HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81), taking part in the military clash in 1962 in Western New Guinea. Subsequently, she was sold to Argentina and renamed ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, later taking part in the Falklands War.

Construction and career
HMS Venerable was laid down at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead on 3 December 1942 and launched just over a year later. The ship was commissioned on 17 January 1945. As with others of the class completed just before the ending of hostilities, HMS Venerable immediately headed to the Far East to join the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron (Colossus, HMS Glory (R62) and HMS Vengeance (R71)) of the British Pacific Fleet. Each carrier had around 40 F4U Corsair fighters and Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers on board.

After the end of hostilities, HMS Venerable repatriated prisoners of war to Canada and Australia, before returning to the UK. Venerable only served three years in the Royal Navy before being sold to the Dutch as HNLMS Karel Doorman. In 1968, after a boiler-room fire, she was sold to the Argentine Navy and renamed ARA Veinticinco de Mayo.

By 1990, she was inoperable, and she subsequently provided spare parts for her sister ship, BRAZILIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER Minas Gerais, which had been sold to the Brazilian Navy. The remaining part of the ship was scrapped in Alang, India, in 1999 or 2000.

title: HMS Venerable (R63)


text:
HMS Perseus (R51)

HMS Perseus was a Colossus-class carrier light fleet aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The ship was initially named HMS Edgar, but she was renamed in 1944 when the Admiralty decided to convert her into an aircraft maintenance carrier. She was completed in 1945, after the end of World War II, and she made a trip to Australia late in the year. Upon her return to the UK in early 1946, Perseus was placed in reserve. The ship was recommissioned in 1950 to serve as the trials ship for the steam catapult then under development. Over 1,600 test launches were conducted before the catapult was removed in 1952 and she was converted for use as a ferry carrier to transport aircraft, troops and equipment overseas. She was reduced to reserve again in 1954 and sold for scrap in 1958.

Design, description and construction
The Colossus-class carriers were intended to meet a shortage of naval flight decks. Their design was based on that of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, but modified to permit rapid construction in commercial yards. Perseus was not completed to her original design; the success of the maintenance aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn (I72) prompted modification of the ship, whilst under construction, to an aircraft maintenance ship without aircraft catapults.

Perseus had an overall length of 695 ft, a beam of 80 ft, and a draught of 23 ft at deep load. She displaced 12265 LT at standard load. Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft. Steam was supplied by four Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers operating at a pressure of 400 psi. The turbines were designed for a total of 40,000 shp and gave Perseus a speed of 25 kn. The ship carried 3196 LT of fuel oil which gave her a range of 8500 nmi at 11 kn.

In order maximize space for workshops and stores, the ship's arresting gear and catapult were not fitted and all the facilities required for flying operations were removed. Two large deckhouses were added to port of the island and on the rear of the flight deck. The ship had a single hangar, 17 ft high. Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by two aircraft lifts (elevators); each measured 34 x. Two large cranes were mounted on the flight deck to move aircraft and stores to and from the flight deck. The ship carried two small self-propelled lighters to allow unflyable aircraft to be transferred between ships or to shore facilities. Bulk petrol storage consisted of 98,600 impgal. The ship's crew totalled 854, plus 222 in her aircraft repair department.

Aircraft could undergo maintenance, and most functional and equipment tests carried out aboard - either in the hangar or on the deck. Some components could be repaired on board, but other work was to be carried out by the workshops on the engine repair and component repair ships that would accompany the maintenance carrier.

The ship was equipped with six quadruple mounts for the 40 mm QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun ("pom-pom"). These gun mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +80°. The Mk VIII 2-pounder gun fired a 40 mm 0.91 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 1920 ft/s to a distance of 3800 yd. The gun's rate of fire was approximately 96–98 rounds per minute. She was also fitted with 19 Bofors 40 mm autocannon in single mounts. The Bofors fired a 0.719 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2890 ft/s. It had a rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute and a maximum range of 10750 yd. All of the guns were mounted on the flight deck, not in sponsons on the side of the hull like her half-sisters that were completed as aircraft carriers. Each "pom-pom" mount was provided with a separate fire-control director fitted with a Type 262 gunnery radar.

Perseus was ordered on 14 March 1942 under the name Edgar. She was laid down at Vickers-Armstrong in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 1 January 1943 and was launched on 26 March 1944. The ship was renamed Perseus in July 1944, after the decision had been made to convert her to an aircraft maintenance ship, and she was completed on 19 October 1945.

Service
Perseus arrived in Portsmouth on 24 October 1945, after the end of World War II, to begin working up and sailed on 17 November for Australia. She arrived in Sydney on 21 December, just in time to take charge of winding up the "Air Train" that had supported the British Pacific Fleet. The ship departed Melbourne on 26 March 1946, carrying a load of aircraft to return to the United Kingdom, and arrived at Rosyth on 17 May where she was placed in reserve.

In 1950, Perseus was fitted with an experimental steam catapult. The catapult was placed on top of the carrier's existing flight deck and the deckhouse to port of the island was removed to accommodate it. Some 1,560 launches were made by the catapult, beginning with over 1,000 wheeled dead-loads, of gradually increasing weight, and moving on to unmanned aircraft with their wings truncated to reduce their ability to glide. The final tests were made by manned aircraft of every type flown by the Fleet Air Arm. After this, the ship arrived in Philadelphia on 14 January 1952 to demonstrate the catapult to the United States Navy. Between them, some 127 launches of manned aircraft were made by the British and the Americans. Perseus arrived back at Portsmouth on 21 March and had the catapult removed. All of her remaining maintenance equipment was removed and she was converted for use as a ferry carrier.

On 10 December, the ship carried the Westland Whirlwinds of 848 Squadron to Singapore, arriving on 8 January 1953. She arrived back at Portsmouth on 11 February and then embarked part of the 100 Grumman Avengers transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act in Norfolk, Virginia, on 16 March. She arrived back in Norfolk to load the remaining aircraft on 29 April. Perseus was fitted with temporary grandstand seating ("bleachers") in June for Very Important Persons and the press during Elizabeth II's Coronation Fleet Review in Spithead. Later in the year she made a trip transporting troops and equipment to the Far East.

On 20 January 1954, 706 Squadron, a second-line unit, flew aboard to conduct trials of the anti-submarine version of the Whirlwind helicopter. They were successful enough that the squadron was redesignated as 845 Squadron afterwards and Perseus ferried them to Malta in April. The ship continued on to deliver relief supplies to Singapore intended for Korea and was reduced to reserve again upon her return on 12 July. The Admiralty intended to convert her to a submarine depot ship and she was towed to Belfast to begin work in 1955. The cutbacks from the 1957 Defence White Paper caused the conversion to be cancelled and the ship was towed to Gare Loch to await a decision on the ship's disposition. Perseus sold for scrap in May 1958 and towed to Port Glasgow to begin demolition.

title: HMS Perseus (R51)


text:
Prairie Island Indian Community

Prairie Island Indian Community (Dakota: Tinta Winta) is a Mdewakanton Sioux Indian reservation in Goodhue County, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. Most of the reservation now lies within the city of Red Wing, which developed after this land was set aside.

The reservation was established in 1889, with boundaries modified after that time. The federally recognized tribe has lost much reservation land to the requirements of two major federal projects of the 20th century. The United States Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by Congress to construct Lock and Dam No. 3 along the river to improve navigation, and took over reservation land to support this. Later, the federal government authorized construction in 1973 of the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant nearby, taking more reservation land for this project.

The main reservation lies within the city of Red Wing. Off-reservation trust lands are located both within Red Wing and in Welch Township in northern Goodhue County, as well as in Ravenna Township in eastern Dakota County. These more than double the total landholdings of the tribe. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the combined reservation and off-reservation trust land have a land area of 4.0 sqmi The reservation had 310 residents in the 2020 census, including off-reservation trust lands. The tribe operates Treasure Island Resort & Casino on its land near the Mississippi River north of Red Wing.

Termination efforts
As part of the Indian termination policy that was followed by the US government from the 1940s to the 1960s, four Native American Groups in Minnesota were targeted. A memo dated 19 January 1955 for the BIA issued from the Department of the Interior indicates additional terminations were being reviewed in proposed legislation for four Indian communities of southern Minnesota including the Lower Sioux Community in Redwood and Scott counties, the New Upper Sioux Community in Yellow Medicine County, the Prairie Island Community in Goodhue County and about 15 individuals living on restricted tracts in Yellow Medicine County.

Discussions between the BIA and the Indians from the targeted area began in 1953 and continued throughout 1954. Though the Prairie Island and Lower Sioux communities drafted agreements with individual land ownership, the Upper Sioux strongly opposed fee simple title to tribal lands. On 26 January 1955 Senator Edward Thye introduced into Congress a bill (S704) to provide for termination of the tribes. Opposition, not only of the Indians, but of other citizens who realized their state expenditures might increase, were made to the committee reviewing the bill. The Minnesota Governor's Commission on Human Rights also opposed the legislation, indicating that it would "not adequately protect the interests of the Indians..." The bill died in committee, never reaching the Senate floor.

Controversial construction
The Community has lost land to major federal projects. United States Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by Congress to construct Lock and Dam No. 3 along the river to improve navigation, and took over reservation land to support this. Later, the federal government authorized construction in 1973 of the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant nearby, taking more reservation land for this project.

The plant's owner and operator, Xcel Energy, has stored radioactive waste in above-ground steel casks on the site since 1991. As this area is in the floodplain of the Mississippi River, the Prairie Island Community and others feared that seasonal flooding could damage the casks, resulting in contamination of this important river.

In 2003 Xcel gained legislative authority in Minnesota to expand the number of radioactive waste casks it had on site. The legislature granted the request, but required the company to make greater use of renewable energy in generating power, such as wind power. In addition, it was required to pay the adjacent Prairie Island Community up to $2.25 million per year to help with improvements to their evacuation plan (in case of a nuclear accident), as well as the acquisition and development of new land for their reservation. In addition, this money was to help pay for a health study and emergency management activities by the small tribe.

In the 21st century, the Prairie Island Community and others in the area opposed renewal by the NRC of the operating license of this plant, but it was approved in June 2011.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the combined reservation and off-reservation trust land have a total area of 5.34 sqmi, of which 4.0 sqmi is land and 1.33 sqmi is water. The land area of the reservation alone was 0.86 sqmi, while the land area of the off-reservation trust land was 3.14 sqmi.

Demographics
As of the census of 2020, the combined population of Prairie Island Indian Community and Off-Reservation Trust Land was 310. The population density was 77.4 PD/sqmi. There were 115 housing units at an average density of 28.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the reservation and off-reservation trust land was 80.0% Native American, 6.8% White, 1.3% Black or African American, 0.6% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 10.3% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 10.3% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

title: Prairie Island Indian Community


text:
Talk:Russian proverbs

English pronounciations: I felt they would be nice to have, but I'm 20+ years out of a Russian class. I'm sure they're rough. Still, it's easier to fix something that's approximately right than to do it from scratch, so have at it!

Brian Rock 23:24, 2004 Feb 23 (UTC)

IMO there should be a wikibook, rather than a "List" of proverbs. Mikkalai 06:05, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

If I'm not mistaken, there's a town in Estonia called "Poslovitsa", could be something to note. PeepP 16:32, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

the Russians better than the dirty Czechs?! removing this... --Isometrik (talk) 20:24, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

- Someone's trolling it or I don't know what

this is: - "There are five Russian proverbs that make the Russians better than the dirty Lithuanians: etc." - a total garbage (I'm a native Russian). Whoever did this (included the above in the article) must be banned

Xenoplant (talk) 19:38, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

removed the 'dirty' comment (again!) Sarahce (talk) 23:43, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Proposed merger
I propose merging Russian proverbs with a similar article titled Russian sayings. Russian Sayings article is a list of sayings and does not add new information about the subject. Both articles link to the same page in Russian Wikipedia titled "Russian proverbs and sayings." USchick (talk) 21:53, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree, but as a proverb is not precisely the same as a saying, the article should follow the Russian example and be renamed "Russian proverbs and sayings". Robina Fox (talk) 19:57, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

title: Talk:Russian proverbs


text:
Madawaska River (Ontario)

The Madawaska River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Ontario, Canada. The river is 230 km long and drains an area of 8470 km2. Its name comes from an Algonquian band of the region known as "Matouweskarini", meaning "people of the shallows".

Geography
The Madawaska River rises at Source Lake in geographic Canisbay Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District, in the highlands of southern Algonquin Park. It flows east, dropping 380 m before emptying into the Ottawa River at Arnprior.

Tributaries

 * Opeongo River
 * York River

Lakes and reservoirs
The lower portion of the Madawaska River supports several large lakes, including:
 * Centennial Lake
 * Black Donald Lake
 * Calabogie Lake
 * Madawaska Reservoir(Arnprior Head Pond)
 * Kamaniskeg Lake

History
In the late 19th century, the river was used to transport logs from the forested areas surrounding the river. Beginning in the 1960s, the river was used to generate hydroelectric power. Undammed sections of the river are also used for canoeing, kayaking and recreational fishing.

Around 1916, artist Tom Thomson followed the log drive down the river, painting the subject in The Drive (1916-17).

Fauna
The most common species of game fish found in this river include walleye (yellow pickerel), northern pike, muskellunge, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass.

Hydroelectric Power
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has 5 stations on the Madawaska.

In June 2002 sluice gates at the Barrett Chute Generating Station were accidentally opened, killing two people, and injuring seven. OPG and two employees were charged with criminal negligence. Procedures at the plant were reviewed, and fencing added or repaired.

The Calabogie station is being upgraded in 2022 to double capacity from 5 MW to 10 MW. The original station was badly damaged by a tornado in September 2018. Clean up was completed in 2020. The project is expected to cost 100 million dollars.

Provincial parks
Two sections of the river are designated and protected as provincial waterway parks:
 * Upper Madawaska River Provincial Park, between Whitney and Madawaska; 10.85 km2.
 * Lower Madawaska River Provincial Park, between Latchford Bridge and Griffith; 12 km2.

Both parks are administered by Ontario Parks but are non-operating, meaning there are no visitor facilities or services available. Both are ideal for whitewater canoeing.

title: Madawaska River (Ontario)


text: Template:Courageous class aircraft carrier


text:
Talk:List of Melbourne tram routes

Route information
Anyone have any thoughts on adding complete route information, as with the train article? Ambivalenthysteria

 * I was thinking of adding a list of suburbs/major roads/attractions that each route passes through/by, although I don't know if it's worth adding a complete road-by-road route for each number as well. There's also a number of sub-routes, like the 73 which goes only half the length of the 72 during non-peaks, things like that. I don't have a list of these routes though so there's something that needs finding. Also, a list of discontinued route numbers and closed routes (if there are any) would be an idea. I'll try and find this info but help is appreciated. Hypernovean 10:56, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Either one seems like a decent idea to me. Maybe if we could get a map with the roads on it? I'll see what I can do about the tram routes. I'm very busy at the moment with Year 12, but when I can, I'm going to hit the libraries and get anything I can on the history of transport in Victoria; hopefully, something will turn up then. Ambivalenthysteria, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * If maps were made up, they would take up a lot of (screen) space, so each route might need it's own page, but not if there's only a map and little else. I'm going to do just what you are and find out what I can on the subject but I'm at uni so I'm busy too.. There are a fair few websites and forums around, I'll begin to amalgamate the information I find there first. Hypernovean 11:38, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Would it be possible to add, for the discontinued routes, where they used to go? I was just thinking, too. How about we create individual pages for each route, and note the streets it stops at, as we would stations for the railway lines (except not linked). I think that'd make this considerably more useful. Ambivalenthysteria 12:32, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * But then we'd have to fight off the Wiki-Is-Not-A-Street-Directory crowd. But I do agree it is worth looking at individual pages, seeing as individual train stations (for example) have them already. I also think that any route articles ought to have some kind of history information (whatever history there is for the modern route numbers that is, remembering that a lot of the current routes are reconstituted combinations of older routes, or have been repeatedly re-numbered), as well as interesting statistics, if available - such as predominant tram classes, home depot (those I have found), etc.

 * And then what about the closed routes? Should they have similar articles detailing their adventures through the Melway, same as the closed train lines?

 * I will, however, start creating articles for the tram depots, as I think there is enough information for decent articles. (However, I don't have time to do more than the basics for now).

 * TPK 09:36, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * Yes, that would be the only problem. Still, based on what I've seen on VFD lately, the tide is turning, and I think these sort of things are likely to get through a vote, as long as they're well written. I think we could come up with some decent articles, particularly if we add in some extra information like the suggestions you mentioned above. Ambivalenthysteria 11:10, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * As a first step, I have created a draft/mockup at User:Hypernovean/Drafts for the #72. TPK 09:01, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Looks great to me. The only other thing I can think of is that we could include details on what cross streets it stops at, and nearby landmarks. Ambivalenthysteria 09:16, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Considering that the Metlink maps of the tram routes tend to have a lot of errors, that might be a good idea. TPK 10:10, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * However, the Yarra Trams site is excellent. Still, I think it could be worthwhile. Ambivalenthysteria 10:54, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * I've added a lot of extra detail if you care to take a look. TPK 10:56, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * I just did. I think this looks fantastic - not only is it useful, and does something even the Yarra Trams site doesn't do on their route pages (pointing out interchanges between routes), but it interlinks well with other Melbourne articles, and helps point out places that need articles, and might otherwise be overlooked, like the Alfred Hospital. Ambivalenthysteria 11:05, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

One nagging point: should these articles be Melbourne tram route X or Tram route X, Melbourne? I'd probably lean towards the first now I think about it. Any preference? TPK 11:43, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * No particular preference. Ambivalenthysteria 11:55, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Created Melbourne tram route 72, Template:MelbourneTramRoutes, Category:Melbourne tram routes, and linked the routes on the list page. TPK 12:17, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Fantastic. Now I'll have to do my bit. Ambivalenthysteria 12:33, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

As you saw, i used your templates for Melbourne tram route 112. Not sure about the extreme ends of the route, so if someone could do some checking. Especially the 'what other tram routes offshoot/cross here' for spencer st -> st kilda area. also was unsure of number of stops, and what tram classes run, so omitted. -- Generica 06:46, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)

 * I just saw it. Looks good! Ambivalenthysteria 06:48, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * I'll see if I can fill in the gaps. TPK 07:47, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I've gone nuts adding 4 new route pages, and 13 (basic) stubs. One things I've noticed is that the majority of current pages use the old victrip site for references. While the domain and liks below it are still valid, it is being phased out. In addition, a lot of the route maps have been updated - especially where the City Saver Zone is in effect. Another thing that I've borrowed and implemented (from the Train station project) is using the font colours goldenrod for zone 1, blue for 2 and red for 3. I'm going to grind through a few of them every now and again, but help is much appreciated. gummAY 05:00, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Please do update these - you might notice by the comments on this page that most of the work on these articles occurred more than eighteen months ago. They could certainly do with an update and a fresh pair of eyes. Ambi 06:45, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Articles for deletion/List of Melbourne tram routes
The result of this discussion was keep.  (aeropagitica)   (talk)   19:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Recentism
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a travel guide. An encyclopedia should include all closed tram routes (e.g. Elsternwick - Point Ormond and the network of the fomer Footscray Tramways Trust). 203.7.140.3 (talk) 01:46, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

The 78? from Batman Avenue through South Yarra
I used to catch a tram to school in the mid-to-late 1980s that terminated at the Swanston Street end of Batman Avenue. I think it was the 78. It got discontinued when they built Federation Square. Unfortunately I can't remember the route name (East Richmond?) or any other details, but hopefully this jogs someone's memory and they can add it to the main article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.209.76.104 (talk) 09:49, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

 * That was old route 70. 78 has been the same for quite a long time, and longer than the mid-80s 92.230.239.63 (talk) 19:40, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on List of Melbourne tram routes. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170304235359/http://www.yarratrams.com.au/media-centre/news/articles/2014/capacity-boost-for-tram-passengers/ to http://www.yarratrams.com.au/media-centre/news/articles/2014/capacity-boost-for-tram-passengers/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 07:48, 26 December 2017 (UTC)

Table askew
at item 6, Brunswick tram depot, but I don't know what data belongs to which columns Quebec99 (talk) 20:17, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:List of Melbourne tram routes