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HMS Indefatigable (R10)

HMS Indefatigable was one of two Implacable-class aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Completed in 1944, her aircraft made several attacks that year against the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz, inflicting only light damage; they also raided targets in Norway. The ship was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) at the end of the year and attacked Japanese-controlled oil refineries in Sumatra in January 1945 before joining the American forces in March as they prepared to invade the island of Okinawa in Operation Iceberg. Indefatigable and the BPF joined the Americans in attacking the Japanese Home Islands in July and August. Following the end of hostilities she visited ports in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

After returning to the UK in early 1946, Indefatigable was modified for transport duties, and ferried troops and civilians for the rest of the year before she was reduced to reserve. She was recommissioned in 1950 as a training ship for service with the Home Fleet Training Squadron, participating in exercises and making several port visits overseas. The Board of Admiralty decided that she was redundant in early 1954 and decommissioned her later that year. Indefatigable was sold for scrap the following year.

Design and description
The Implacable class were ordered under the 1938 Naval Programme by the Chamberlain government as part of the general rearmament begun in response to the rise of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The design originated as an improved version of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers and was intended to be 2 kn faster and carry an additional dozen aircraft over the 30 kn speed and 36 aircraft of the earlier ships. To remain within the 23000 LT limit allowed by the Second London Naval Treaty, these improvements could only be made by reducing armour protection. Indefatigable was 766 ft long overall and 730 ft at the waterline. Her beam was 95 ft at the waterline, and she had a draught of 29 ft at deep load. The Implacable-class ships were significantly overweight and displaced 32110 LT at deep load. The ships had metacentric heights of 4.06 ft at light load and 6.91 ft at deep load as completed. Indefatigable's complement was approximately 2,300 officers and ratings in 1945.

The ships had four Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam supplied by eight Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 148000 shp, enough to give the Indefatigable-class ships a maximum speed of 32.5 kn. On sea trials, Indefatigable reached a speed of 32.06 kn with 150935 shp. She carried enough fuel oil to give her a range of 6900 nmi at 20 kn.

The 760 ft armoured flight deck had a maximum width of 102 ft. A single hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck. The Implacable-class carriers were equipped with two lifts on the centreline, the forward of which measured 45 by and served only the upper hangar, and the aft lift (45 by), which served both hangars. The upper hangar was 458 ft long and the lower hangar was 208 ft long; both had a maximum width of 62 ft. Each hangar had a height of only 14 feet which precluded storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters as well as many post-war aircraft and helicopters. Designed to stow 48 aircraft in their hangars, the use of a permanent deck park allowed the Implacable class to accommodate up to 81 aircraft. The additional crewmen, maintenance personnel and facilities needed to support these aircraft were housed in the lower hangar. The ships were provided with 94650 impgal of aviation gasoline.

Armament, electronics and protection
The ship's main armament consisted of sixteen quick-firing (QF) 4.5 in dual-purpose guns in eight twin-gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. Unlike the Illustrious-class ships, the roofs of the gun turrets were flat and flush with the flight deck. The gun had a maximum range of 20760 yd. Indefatigable's light anti-aircraft defences included five octuple mounts for QF 2-pounder ("pom-pom") anti-aircraft (AA) guns, two on the flight deck forward of the island, one on the aft part of the island, and two in sponsons on the port side of the hull. A single quadruple 2-pounder mount was also fitted on the port side of the hull. The 2-pounder gun had a maximum range of 6800 yd.

The ship was also fitted with 55 Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in 17 single and 19 twin-gun mounts. These guns had a maximum range of 4800 yd, but some were replaced by 40 mm Bofors AA guns when the ships were transferred to the Pacific Theatre as the 20 mm shell was unlikely to destroy a kamikaze before it hit the ship. The Bofors gun had a maximum range of 10750 yd. By August 1945, Indefatigable had 10 single Bofors guns, plus 14 twin and 12 single Oerlikon mounts. By April 1946 these had been reduced to 11 Bofors guns, 6 twin and 7 single Oerlikon guns.

Details of the Implacable-class ships' radar suite are not readily available. They were fitted with the Type 277 surface-search/height-finding radar on top of the bridge and a Type 293 target indicator radar on the foremast. HMS Victorious (R38), one of the Illustrious-class ships upon which Indefatigable's design was based, also carried Type 279 and Type 281B early-warning radars. Type 282 and Type 285 gunnery radars were mounted on the fire-control directors.

The Implacable-class ships had a flight deck protected by 3 in of armour. The sides of the hangars were either 1.5 in or 2 in. The ends of the hangars were protected by 2-inch bulkheads and the armour of the hangar deck ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 in in thickness. The waterline armour belt was 4.5 in thick, but only covered the central portion of the ship. The belt was closed by 1.5 to 2-inch transverse bulkheads fore and aft. The underwater defence system was a layered system of liquid- and air-filled compartments as used in the Illustrious class. The magazines for the 4.5-inch guns lay outside the armoured citadel and were protected by 2 to 3-inch roofs, 4.5-inch sides and 1.5 to 2-inch ends.

Construction and career
Indefatigable was laid down by John Brown & Co. at their shipyard in Clydebank on 3 November 1939 as Yard Number 565. She was launched on 8 December 1942 by Victoria of Hesse, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven. Captain Quintin Graham was appointed to command the ship in August 1943. While fitting out, in order to confound the enemy, a ruse known as Operation Bijou, initiated by London Controlling Section, was launched whereby it was made known that Indefatigable had already entered service. Ultra decrypts revealed that the Japanese believed the deception, with operatives including Malcolm Muggeridge and Peter Fleming supplying disinformation for more than a year, sufficient to make the enemy believe the vessel had gone to the Far East and returned to the Clyde for a refit, by which time she was actually finished.

The ship was commissioned on 8 December 1943 and began sea trials, which revealed many problems that required rectification and delayed her formal completion until 3 May 1944. While Indefatigable was still conducting builder's trials, a de Havilland Mosquito landed aboard on 25 March, piloted by Lieutenant Eric Brown (this is often cited as the first landing by a twin-engined aeroplane on an aircraft carrier, but in fact a Potez 565 had landed on and taken off from the French carrier Béarn in 1936). The ship was assigned to the Home Fleet and was working up over the next several months while the Fairey Fireflies of 1770 Squadron flew aboard on 18 May. The squadron was followed by the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers of 826 Squadron in June.

Norwegian operations
Indefatigable's first mission was a brief sortie on 1 July 1944 to provide air cover for the ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth that was ferrying American troops to Britain. Upon her return, Indefatigable embarked the Supermarine Seafire fighters of 887 Squadron and the Barracudas of 820 Squadron, completing No. 9 Naval Torpedo-Bomber Reconnaissance Wing, over the next week. Her first combat mission was an attack on the battleship Tirpitz in Kaafjord on 17 July with two other Home Fleet carriers (Operation Mascot). She contributed 23 Barracudas and 12 Fireflies to the mission; the former attacked the battleship while the Fireflies strafed the flak positions defending her. A smoke screen prevented most of the Barracudas from seeing their target and they failed to hit Tirpitz. One Barracuda was forced to ditch near the carrier and its crew was rescued by the destroyer HMS Verulam (R28).

894 Squadron, equipped with Seafires, landed aboard after the attack on 24 July to complete No. 24 Naval Fighter Wing. Indefatigable and several escort carriers attacked targets in Norway on 10 August, destroying 6 Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters and sinking a minesweeper. For Operation Goodwood, a series of attacks on Tirpitz, the Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters of 1840 Squadron replaced the Barracudas of 826 Squadron. The first mission took place on the morning of 22 August when Indefatigable launched 12 Barracudas, 11 Fireflies, 8 Hellcats, and 8 Seafires against the German battleship and nearby targets. A smoke screen again protected Tirpitz and no damage was inflicted; two Seafires failed to return. Another attack was made later in the day without effect. A further attack could not be mounted until 24 August because of bad weather; for this mission the carrier contributed 12 Barracudas, 11 Fireflies and 4 Seafires, all of which returned. Tirpitz was lightly damaged by two hits during this attack, one a 500 lb bomb and the other a 1600 lb armour-piercing bomb. The latter penetrated the armoured deck but failed to explode and would probably have inflicted serious damage, possibly even sinking the ship, had it done so. A final attack was made five days later, again without effect. 887 Squadron sank seven seaplanes at their moorings at Banak during the operation.

Indian Ocean and Pacific operations
On 19 September 1944, Indefatigable sortied from Scapa Flow to attack targets near Tromsø, but the operation was cancelled because of bad weather. The ship underwent a brief refit at her builder's yard between 28 September and 8 November. She became the flagship of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron (1st ACS) when Rear Admiral Sir Philip Vian hoisted his flag on 15 November. The following day, King George VI inspected the ship; the ground crews later embarked for 820, 887, 894 and 1770 Squadrons. Their aircraft, 40 Seafires, 12 Fireflies, and 21 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, followed on 19 November, and she sailed for the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet. Indefatigable arrived at Colombo, Ceylon, on 10 December and Vian transferred his flag to HMS Indomitable (R92).

Together with Victorious and Indomitable, Indefatigable attacked an oil refinery at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra on 4 January 1945 (Operation Lentil). She embarked six photoreconnaissance Hellcats of 888 Squadron for the attack; her only contribution to the attack itself was the Fireflies of 1770 Squadron, which used RP-3 rocket projectiles on their targets. The squadron claimed to have shot down a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar", for the loss of a Firefly that ran out of fuel and had to ditch next to the ship. After Indefatigable's return, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command, addressed the crew on 11 January.

En route to Sydney to prepare for operations in the Pacific, the BPF's carriers attacked oil refineries near Palembang, Sumatra, on 24 and 29 January (Operation Meridian). The ship's Seafires lacked the range to reach the targets so they were retained on combat air patrols (CAP) over the fleet for both attacks. She contributed 10 of her Avengers and all of her Fireflies to the first attack, which destroyed most of the oil storage tanks and cut the refinery's output by half for three months. Five days later, the BPF attacked a different refinery and 820 Squadron again contributed 10 Avengers to the attack while 1770 Squadron added nine Fireflies. The latter squadron also flew two Fireflies on an armed reconnaissance mission over an airfield that lay between the carriers and their target. The attack was very successful at heavy cost, but the losses of Indefatigable's squadrons are not available. Her Seafires shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" reconnaissance aircraft searching for the fleet and 5 Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily" bombers that attacked at low level.

The BPF arrived in Sydney on 10 February; the crews received leave and the ships got some maintenance before they sailed for the BPF's advance base at Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, on 27 February. They arrived on 7 March and exercised together before sailing for Ulithi on 18 March. The BPF joined the American Fifth Fleet there two days later to participate in the preliminary operations for the invasion of Okinawa. The British role during the operation was to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 26 March. Her Seafires were again retained to defend the fleet and only her Avengers and Fireflies attacked the airfields. Her Seafire squadrons lacked 13 of their authorised strength of 50 pilots and could not sustain the pace of the first day of operations, when they flew 72 sorties. After a break at the end of the month to refuel, Indefatigable became the first British carrier to be hit by a kamikaze the day after flying operations resumed, when one of the Japanese planes evaded the CAP and struck the base of the carrier's island on 1 April. The bomb it carried did not detonate and this limited casualties to 21 men killed and 27 wounded. Damage to the ship was minimal and the flight deck was back in operation thirty minutes later.

On 12 and 13 April, the BPF switched targets to airfields in northern Formosa. On the first day, a pair of Fireflies encountered five Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia" dive bombers and shot down four of them. A flight of four Seafires on CAP spotted four Japanese fighters, three Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes and a Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony" later that morning, and shot down one Zero. The BPF returned to the Sakishima Islands on 17 April before retiring to Leyte Gulf to rest and resupply. Wastage of Seafires to all causes was very heavy during the operation with 25 out of 40 lost or damaged beyond repair and only 5 replacements received. Their short range and lack of endurance was considered by Vian to be a severe handicap for the BPF, which returned to action on 4 May and again attacked targets in the Sakishima Islands. Its aircraft continued to do so until they flew their last missions of Operation Iceberg on 25 May. Statistics compiled by the BPF staff showed that 61 Seafires were lost or damaged beyond repair during both phases of the operation due to deck-landing accidents.

The BPF arrived back at Sydney on 5 June and sailed for Manus three weeks later. Indefatigable was forced to remain behind as she required repairs to her machinery. Her air group flew aboard on 7 July (1772 Squadron and its Fireflies replacing 1770 Squadron) when she sailed for Manus. She reached the coast of Japan on 20 July and her aircraft began attacking targets near Osaka and in the Inland Sea four days later. Her Seafire squadrons had adapted larger external fuel tanks for their aircraft and they were no longer limited to CAP duty. The BPF's aircraft crippled the escort carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Kaiyo and sank numerous smaller ships on 24 July. After replenishing, airstrikes resumed on 28 and 30 July, the British sinking the escort JAPANESE ESCORT SHIP Okinawa near Maizuru. A combination of bad weather, refuelling requirements and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima delayed the resumption of air operations until 9 August. During the day, Indefatigable's aircraft attacked targets in northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido. The attacks were repeated the next day, sinking two warships and numerous small merchantmen and destroying numerous railroad locomotives and parked aircraft.

The BPF had been scheduled to withdraw after 10 August to prepare for Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu scheduled for November, and the bulk of the force departed for Manus on 12 August. Indefatigable, however, had been chosen to remain as part of the Allied occupation force. The next day her aircraft attacked targets in the vicinity of Tokyo. Flight operations resumed on the morning of the 15th after an operational pause to refuel. The first airstrike was tasked to attack Kisarazu Air Field with four Fireflies and six Avengers, escorted by eight Seafires, but was forced to divert to its secondary target because of bad weather. En route they were attacked by a dozen Zeros in the last British air combat of the war. The Japanese fighters shot down one Seafire on their first pass and crippled an Avenger. The Seafires claimed four Zeros shot down, four others probably shot down, and another four damaged. An Avenger also claimed one Zero as damaged. A Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bomber attacked the carrier after the ceasefire went into effect, but its two bombs missed. After the ceasefire, Indefatigable's aircraft continued to fly CAP and flew reconnaissance missions looking for Allied prisoners of war, dropping supplies to them as they were located.

Post-war service
On 17 August 1945, Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, commander of the BPF, came aboard and addressed the crew. Indefatigable continued flying operations until she entered Sagami Bay on 5 September. She departed three days later for Manus en route to Sydney. The ship arrived at Sydney on 18 September and began a leisurely refit that lasted until 15 November. On 1 November, Captain Ian MacIntyre relieved Graham as captain of the ship. She became Vian's flagship on 22 November and sailed to New Zealand to show the flag. She arrived in Wellington on 27 November and was opened for public tours, during which time the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, also visited. Indefatigable then sailed to Auckland, arriving on 12 December, and was again opened for tours. She returned to Sydney for the holidays and visited Melbourne on 22 January 1946 before departing for home nine days later. Vian transferred his flag to her sister ship Implacable that day and the ship stopped off at Fremantle and Cape Town en route. While Indefatigable was visiting the latter city, she was opened to the public, and the Governor-General of South Africa toured the ship.

The carrier arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard on 16 March 1946. Her hangars were modified to accommodate over 1,900 passengers, including women, and she departed for Australia on 25 April carrying 782 RN personnel and 130 Australian war brides. Most of the RN personnel disembarked at Colombo and most of the war brides did the same at Fremantle. Indefatigable continued on to Sydney, where she embarked a complete naval hospital, with patients, and over 1,000 RN officers and ratings. She departed on 9 June and arrived at Plymouth on 7 July. Her next voyage involved transporting a much smaller number of men to Malta and Colombo; only 47 officers and 67 ratings, most of whom left the ship at Malta. When she arrived at Colombo on 15 August, she loaded a full complement of passengers from all three services to return to the UK. The ship arrived at Portsmouth on 9 September and her next voyage involved over 1,200 RN personnel and civilians ferried to Malta, Colombo, and Singapore where almost 1,300 personnel embarked. She returned to Portsmouth on 29 October and began a brief refit in preparation for her final trooping voyage. Indefatigable sailed empty for Norfolk, Virginia, where she loaded RN personnel before returning to Portsmouth on 21 November. The next month, she was placed in reserve and Captain MacIntyre retired on 7 January 1947.

The Admiralty decided to recommission Indefatigable for use as a training ship in mid-1949. Captain Henry Fancourt assumed command on 22 August to prepare for sea. The ship arrived at Devonport to begin the necessary modifications on 30 August and the following day Fancourt turned over command to the dockyard. Captain John Grindle was appointed to command on 24 March 1950 and the ship was recommissioned on 28 May. Two days later Captain Robert Sherbrooke, VC, relieved Grindle and Indefatigable began her sea trials on 28 June. She was inspected by Rear Admiral St John Micklethwaithe, Flag Officer Training Squadron, on 3 July and received her first trainees shortly afterwards. She participated in exercises with the Home Fleet and joined it in Gibraltar in September and October. On 12 March 1951 she sortied from Portland, flying Micklethwaite's flag, to exercise with the Home Fleet before beginning a brief refit at Devonport in May. Captain John Grant relieved Sherbrooke on 6 June and the ship was opened to visitors as part of the Festival of Britain on 17 July. Five days later the visitors were stranded aboard ship overnight when a storm came up and forced Indefatigable to put to sea. The seas moderated the next day and the visitors departed in safety. Rear Admiral Royer Dick hoisted his flag aboard the carrier in September until she began a short refit at Devonport in January 1952.

Indefatigable joined Implacable for her annual winter visit to Gibraltar after completing her refit in February 1952. Over the summer she exercised with the Home Fleet and visited the Danish port of Aarhus, where she was visited by Queen Alexandrine of Denmark in July. Captain Ralph Fisher assumed command on 30 January 1953 and took her to sea three weeks later for exercises with the Home Fleet and her annual visit to Gibraltar. She returned to Portland in late March and visited Bournemouth at the end of May. She joined her sister and several other carriers on 9 June to sail for Spithead for the Coronation Fleet Review of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June as one of a fleet of nine carriers. Indefatigable joined her sister for fleet exercises off the Scilly Isles and in the Bristol Channel in September and October before beginning her annual refit on 6 October. The Admiralty announced on 26 January 1954 that both ships would be replaced as training ships and reduced to reserve. This had no short-term impact on their activities as they sailed for the Western Mediterranean on their annual winter cruise. The ship exercised with the Home Fleet and made a port visit to Casablanca, Morocco, before visiting Gibraltar. Captain Hugh Browne assumed command on 10 May after Fisher had been promoted. The ship welcomed home Queen Elizabeth II and her husband four days later as they returned from their tour of the Commonwealth. The following month, Indefatigable exercised with the Home Fleet in Scottish waters and visited Aarhus again. In August she began transferring her training duties to the carrier HMS Ocean (R68) and arrived at Rosyth on 2 September to be paid off, a process that took until the following month to complete. She was towed to Gareloch in June 1955 where she was listed for disposal. Indefatigable was sold for scrap in September 1956 and subsequently broken up at Faslane.

title: HMS Indefatigable (R10)


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London Docks

The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London.

They were constructed in Wapping, downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million.

Traditionally ships had docked at wharves on the River Thames, but by the late 1700s more capacity was needed. They were the closest docks to the City of London until St Katharine Docks were built two decades later.

London Dock Company
The London Dock Company was formed in 1800, and work on the docks began in 1801. In 1864 they were amalgamated with St Katharine Docks.

Physical description
The London Docks occupied a total area of about 30 acres (120,000 m2), consisting of Western and Eastern docks linked by the short Tobacco Dock. The Western Dock was connected to the Thames by Hermitage Basin to the south west and Wapping Basin to the south.

The Eastern Dock connected to the Thames via the Shadwell Basin to the east. The principal designers were the architects and engineers Daniel Asher Alexander and John Rennie.

The docks specialised in high-value luxury commodities such as ivory, spices, coffee and cocoa as well as wine and wool, for which elegant warehouses and wine cellars were constructed. The system was never connected to the railway network. The Port of London Authority took over the London Docks together with the rest of the enclosed docks in 1909.

After containerisation of commercial shipping
The docks were closed to shipping in 1969 and sold to the borough of Tower Hamlets. The western portion of the London Docks was filled in with the (unrealised) intention of turning them into public housing estates. The land was still largely derelict when it was acquired in 1981 by the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC). It was subsequently redeveloped with over 1,000 individual properties centred on the old Tobacco Dock and Shadwell Basin.

The controversial "Fortress Wapping" printing works of Rupert Murdoch's News International corporation was constructed on the northern half of the infilled Western Dock. Hermitage Basin and Shadwell Basin survive. Wapping Basin is now a sports pitch and some of the Eastern Dock site is open space. A small canal runs across the southern part of the Western Dock site from Hermitage Basin to Tobacco Dock.

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

title: London Docks


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Alan Ralsky

Alan Ralsky (c. 1945–2021) was a convicted American fraudster, best known for his activities as a spammer.

Spamming
Ralsky was one of the most prolific sources of junk e-mail worldwide. Unlike most spammers, he provided interviews to various newspapers, although he claimed to be a commercial e-mailer rather than a spammer. He claimed that he was a legitimate business that complied with all laws, but was convicted of spamming and other fraudulent activities in June 2009.

Ralsky apparently began his spamming career in 1996, when his licenses to sell insurance were revoked in Michigan and Illinois.

He gained much of his notoriety following a December 2002 interview with The Detroit News. The article was posted to Slashdot and the address of his newly built home was posted to Slashdot not long after that. Hundreds of Slashdot readers then searched the Internet for advertising mailing lists and free catalogs and signed him up for them. As a result, he was flooded with junk mail. In a Detroit Free Press article on December 6, 2002, he is quoted as saying, "They've signed me up for every advertising campaign and mailing list there is. These people are out of their minds. They're harassing me."

Legal timeline

 * In 1992 he served a fifty-day sentence for selling unregistered securities.
 * On August 7, 1995, he pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud in Ohio. He served three years probation for a felony charge of falsifying banking records.
 * On March 14, 1999, he pleaded guilty to misprision of felony in Michigan.
 * In early October, 2005, a warrant was unsealed, showing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Alan Ralsky's home in September. In the raid, the FBI took computers, financial records, and even the Detroit News article cited above. They then raided his son-in-law's home. Ralsky's business was not legally shut down, but he was unable to operate following the raid.
 * On January 3, 2008, Ralsky and ten others were indicted based on the results of a three-year investigation. The indictment included stock fraud charges stemming from a "pump and dump" scheme.
 * On January 9, 2008, Ralsky was arraigned on the charges that he was indicted for on January 3, 2008. He was silent during the arraignment, so a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
 * On June 22, 2009, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering charges and violating the CAN-SPAM Act. He agreed to assist in the prosecution of other spammers in exchange for sentencing consideration.
 * On November 23, 2009, he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani to four years, three months in jail. He was also fined $250,000.
 * Alan Ralsky was inmate No. 19509-039 at the Federal Correctional Institution, Morgantown.
 * He was released on 14 September 2012.

title: Alan Ralsky


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Implacable-class aircraft carrier

The Implacable-class aircraft carrier consisted of two aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Derived from the design of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, they were faster and carried more aircraft than the older ships. They were initially assigned to the Home Fleet when completed in 1944 and attacked targets in Norway as well as the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz. Subsequently, they were assigned to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF).

HMS Indefatigable (R10) was the first ship to go to the Pacific and attacked Japanese-controlled oil refineries in Sumatra en route. She participated in Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa in March–April 1945. HMS Implacable (R86)'s arrival in the Pacific was delayed by a refit and she did not begin operations against the Japanese until June. The sister ships participated in the attacks on the Japanese Home Islands in July and August. Indefatigable was the only carrier chosen to continue operations after most of the BPF withdrew to prepare for further operations in early August. After the Japanese formal surrender in September, Implacable ferried Allied troops and prisoners of war back to Australia and Canada for the rest of the year.

The sisters returned home in 1946; Indefatigable was used for the rest of the year to transport troops before being placed in reserve in 1947 and Implacable became the training carrier for Home Fleet. Indefatigable was converted into a training ship and reactivated in 1950 for service with the Home Fleet. Implacable was relegated to the reserve that same year and modified into a training ship in 1952. The sisters were scheduled for modernisation during the mid-1950s, but it was cancelled as the modernisation of the carrier in the queue ahead of them proved to be too expensive and lengthy. The sisters were decommissioned in 1954 and sold for scrap in 1955–1956.

Background and description
The Implacable class had its origin as an improved version of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers for the 1938 Naval Programme while still remaining within the 23000 LT available from the tonnage allowed by the Second London Naval Treaty. The initial change was to increase the carriers' speed to no less than 32 kn which required the addition of a fourth steam turbine and associated propeller shaft. Offsetting the additional weight of the machinery meant reductions in armour thicknesses in the hangar deck and the bulkheads at the ends of the hangar. At the same time the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) was developing a different modified Illustrious design (Design D) to carry an additional dozen aircraft (a total of 48) in a lower hangar that also incorporated the additional machinery of the initial design with the sacrifice of even more armour. Hangar height was initially planned as 13 ft in the upper hangar to accommodate the new Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber and 16 ft in the lower hangar to accommodate taller amphibious aircraft, but a later change in policy raised the upper hangar height to 14 ft. Design D was submitted to the Board of Admiralty on 2 August 1938 and approved on 17 November. In April 1939 the lower hangar's height was reduced to 14 feet to compensate for the thickening of the hangar side armour to 2 in and the idea of carrying amphibians in the hangar was abandoned.

The Implacable-class ships were 766 ft long overall and 730 ft at the waterline. Their beam was 95 ft at the waterline and they had a draught of 29 ft at deep load. The ships were significantly overweight and displaced 32110 LT at deep load. Their complement was approximately 2,300 officers and enlisted men in 1945. They had metacentric heights of 4.06 ft at light load and 6.91 ft at deep load as completed.

The ships were fitted with four Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft using steam supplied by eight Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 148000 shp, enough to give them a maximum speed of 32.5 kn. On their sea trials, the ships reached speeds of 31.89 - 32.06 kn with 150935 - 151200 shp. The Implacable class carried a maximum of 4690 - 4810 LT of fuel oil which gave them a range of 6720 - 6900 nmi at 20 kn.

The 760 ft armoured flight deck had a maximum width of 102 ft. The arrestor cables, crash barricades, aircraft catapult and lifts were designed to handle aircraft up to 20000 lb in weight. The carriers were fitted with nine arrestor cables aft that were designed to stop landing, at speeds of up to 60 kn. They were backed up by three crash barricades to prevent landing aircraft from crashing into aircraft parked on the ship's bow. In case of damage to the rear flight deck, the Implacable-class ships also mounted three additional forward arrestor cables to permit aircraft to land over the bow. A single BH3 hydraulic catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck to launch 20,000-pound aircraft at 56 kn; lighter aircraft could be launched at a maximum speed of 66 kn. The ships were equipped with two lifts on the centreline, the forward of which measured 45 by and served only the upper hangar, and the aft lift (45 by) which served both hangars. The upper hangar was 458 ft long and the lower hangar was 208 ft long; both had a uniform width of 62 ft. Both hangars had a height of only 14 feet which precluded storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters as well as many post-war aircraft and helicopters. In case of fire the upper hangar could be divided by two fire curtains and the lower hangar had one fire curtain. Designed to stow 48 aircraft in their hangars, the use of a permanent deck park allowed the Implacable class to accommodate up to 81 aircraft. The crewmen, maintenance personnel and facilities needed to support these additional aircraft were housed in the lower hangar. The ships were provided with 94650 impgal of petrol, only enough for approximately five sorties per aircraft.

Armament, electronics, and armour
The ships' main armament consisted of sixteen QF 4.5 in Mark II dual-purpose guns in eight powered RP 10 Mk II** twin-gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. Unlike the Illustrious-class ships, the roofs of the gun turrets were flat and flush with the flight deck. The gun had a maximum range of 20760 yd at an elevation of +45° and a ceiling of 41000 ft. Their light anti-aircraft defences included five octuple mounts for QF 2-pounder ("pom-pom") anti-aircraft guns, two on the flight deck forward of the island, one on the aft part of the island and two in sponsons on the port side of the hull. A single quadruple 2-pounder mount was also fitted on the port side of the hull. The 2-pounder gun had a maximum range of 6800 yd. The two ships were also fitted with approximately sixty Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in varying numbers of single and twin-gun mounts. These guns had a maximum range of 4800 yd, but many were replaced by 40 mm Bofors AA guns when the ships were transferred to the Pacific War as the 20 mm shell was unlikely to destroy a kamikaze before it hit the ship. The Bofors gun had a maximum range of 10750 yd. Two additional quadruple "pom-pom" mounts were added to Implacable before she joined the British Pacific Fleet in 1945. After the war, more Oerlikons were exchanged for Bofors guns. By April 1946, the sisters had 11–12 Bofors guns and 19–30 Oerlikons each.

The 4.5-inch guns were controlled by four Mk V* (M) fire-control directors, each mounting a Type 285 gunnery radar. Two of the directors were positioned on the flight deck, one each fore and aft of the island, a third was on the island, aft of the funnel, and the fourth director was on the port side of the hull, below the flight deck. Each director sent its data to a Fuze Keeping Clock AA fire-control system for gunnery calculations. Each "pom-pom" was provided with its own Mk IV director that carried a range-only Type 282 gunnery radar.

The specifics of the Implacable-class ships' radar suite is not readily available in published sources. They were fitted with the Type 277 surface-search/height-finding radar on top of the bridge and a Type 293 target indicator radar on the foremast. The ships probably carried Type 279 and Type 281B early-warning radars, based on the radars fitted aboard the Illustrious-class carrier HMS Victorious (R38) late in the war.

The Implacable-class ships had a flight deck protected by 3 in of armour. The sides of the hangars were designed to be 1.5 in thick to protect the hangar from low-level attacks with 500 lb semi-armour-piercing bombs, but were supposedly thickened to 2 in late in the design process at the cost of reducing the height of the lower hangar. Naval historian Norman Friedman wrote: "Ironically, it appears that the ships were actually built with 1.5-inch ... armour." The ends of the hangars were protected by 2-inch bulkheads and the armour of the hangar deck ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 in in thickness.

The waterline armour belt was 4.5 in thick, but only covered the central portion of the ship to form the armoured citadel. The belt was closed by 1.5 to 2-inch transverse bulkheads fore and aft. The underwater defence system was a layered system of liquid- and air-filled compartments as used in the Illustrious class and was estimated to be able to resist a 750 lb explosive charge. The magazines for the 4.5-inch guns lay outside the armoured citadel and were protected by 2 to 3-inch thick roofs, 4.5-inch sides and 1.5 to 2-inch ends.

Planned modernisation
The two Implacables were tentatively scheduled to be modernised in 1953–55 with Implacable following Victorious. The draft Staff Requirements were drawn up in July 1951. This included combining the two hangars into a single 17 ft hangar, strengthening the flight deck and aircraft handling equipment to deal with 30000 lb aircraft, enlarging the lifts to 55 by, adding a gallery deck between the hangar and the flight deck to accommodate the additional personnel required, the addition of steam catapults, and the increase of her aviation fuel stowage to 240000 impgal. Other desired improvements were new boilers to increase her endurance, more space for the latest radars, and the replacement of her anti-aircraft armament with the British version of the 3"/70 Mark 26 gun and sextuple mounts for the Bofors guns.

By October 1951, the estimated completion date for Victorious's modernisation was already a year past the initial estimate of April 1954. Implacable was scheduled to begin her modernisation in April 1953 for completion in 1956, but the Director of Dockyards pointed out that existing schedules prevented her from beginning any earlier than April 1955 unless the modernisations of two cruisers and the guided missile test ship RFA Girdle Ness were delayed. The Controller of the Navy asked if the time and cost of the reconstruction could be reduced, but the minimum modifications were the most expensive as they involved structural alterations. The Controller ordered the Director of Dockyards to plan for rebuilding Implacable between June 1953 and December 1956 even after the latter protested that even a limited modernisation would require about three-quarters of the structural work of the original plan and that the shortage of skilled workers (already insufficient for Victorious by herself) would delay work on both ships. In order to reduce the amount of structural work, the requirement to replace the boilers was cancelled and the ship would receive existing radars instead of systems then still under development. In January 1952, the ship's new armament was finalized at six twin-gun 3"/70 mounts and three sextuple Bofors mounts. Five months later the Admiralty decided that Victorious would be the last fleet carrier modernised as experience showed that the process would take longer and cost more than was practicable.

Construction and service
Two ships were originally planned, but only one carrier was included in the 1938 Naval Programme as the other was delayed a year by the government. While under construction, the ships had their forward lift enlarged to take non-folding aircraft like the Hawker Sea Hurricane and the early models of the Supermarine Seafire, the flight deck was widened abreast the forward lift, splinter protection was added as were seven diesel generators, each in their own watertight compartment. All these changes increased the ships' displacement by 540 LT at deep load.

Implacable's construction was suspended in 1940 in favour of escorts needed in the Battle of the Atlantic so that the two carriers were launched within days of each other. She embarked portions of her air wing for training in late August and was assigned to the Home Fleet on 7 October at Scapa Flow after working up. She joined ships searching for Tirpitz a week later and some of her Fairey Fireflies spotted the battleship off Håkøya Island near Tromsø. Subsequently, her Fireflies successfully attacked targets in Norway. In late October, the carrier's Seafires arrived and she participated in Operation Athletic off the Norwegian coast, sinking four warships and two merchant ships and damaging a German submarine. In November and December, Implacable provided air cover for minelaying operations and attacked German shipping off the Norwegian coast. On 15 December she began a refit at Rosyth preparatory to her transfer to the BPF, which included augmenting her light AA armament.

When the refit was completed on 10 March 1945, the ship embarked an enlarged air wing with 81 aircraft (48 Seafires, 12 Fireflies, and 21 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers), the largest number of aircraft aboard a British carrier up to that time. Implacable arrived at Sydney, Australia, in May and joined the other carriers of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron (1st ACS) at Manus Island after their return from the invasion of Okinawa in June. On 14–15 June, the carrier attacked the Japanese naval base at Truk. After working up with the other carriers, the ship sailed with the 1st ACS on 6 July to rendezvous with the American carriers of Task Force 38 off the Japanese home island of Honshu ten days later. The British carriers began flying sorties against Japanese targets on Honshu on 17 July and Implacable's aircraft, before departing the area on 11 August to replenish, flew over 1,000 sorties. She arrived at Sydney on 24 August and spent most of the rest of the year ferrying Allied prisoners of war and soldiers back to Australia and Canada. In January 1946, together with her sister Indefatigable and several other ships, she made a number of port visits in Australia and New Zealand. The ship was refitted in Sydney in preparation for her return home on 3 June where she became the deck-landing training carrier for the Home Fleet.

Implacable temporarily became a trials carrier in October 1947 as her own air group was not yet ready and she was refitted from October to December 1948 in preparation of service as the Home Fleet flagship. She embarked a squadron each of de Havilland Sea Hornets and Blackburn Firebrands in April 1949 and became the flagship of Admiral Sir Philip Vian on 29 April. A squadron of de Havilland Sea Vampires flew from her deck later that year and her air group was augmented by a squadron of Fairey Barracudas in 1950. Implacable was placed in reserve in September 1950 and slowly converted into a training ship by the addition of extra accommodation and classrooms, including the addition of a deckhouse on her flight deck. She was recommissioned in January 1952 as the flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. Together with Indefatigable, she was present during the Coronation Fleet Review of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June 1953. Four months later, Implacable ferried a battalion of troops from Plymouth to Trinidad in response to a crisis in British Guiana. She was decommissioned on 1 September 1954 and sold for breaking up on 27 October 1955.

While Indefatigable was still conducting builder's trials, a de Havilland Mosquito landed aboard on 25 March 1944, piloted by Lieutenant Eric Brown. This was the first landing by a twin-engined aeroplane on a carrier. After working up the ship was assigned to the Home Fleet in early July 1944 with an air group of Seafires, Fireflies and Barracudas. On 17 July, she participated in Operation Mascot, an attack on Tirpitz that was foiled by German smoke screens. The following month, Indefatigable's aircraft provided air cover to minelaying operations and attacked targets in Norway. She was also assigned to a series of attacks on Tirpitz, Operation Goodwood, in late August which failed to significantly damage the battleship.

Indefatigable was assigned to the BPF in November and she arrived in Colombo, Ceylon, on 10 December where she joined the 1st ACS. Together with the other carriers of the BPF, she attacked oil refineries in Sumatra in January 1945 (Operation Lentil and Operation Meridian) before sailing to Sydney to prepare for operations in the Pacific. The BPF joined the American Fifth Fleet at Ulithi on 20 March and attacked airfields on the Sakishima Islands, south of Okinawa, beginning on 26 March, as part of the preparations for Operation Iceberg. During these operations, Indefatigable became the first British carrier to be hit by a kamikaze when one penetrated the combat air patrol (CAP) and struck the base of her island on 1 April. The bomb carried by the kamikaze did not detonate and this limited casualties to 21 men killed and 27 wounded. Damage to the ship was minimal and the flight deck was back in operation thirty minutes later. After Okinawa had been secured, the BPF arrived back at Sydney on 7 June and Indefatigable was delayed rejoining operations as she required repairs to her machinery. She departed Manus on 12 July and reached the coast of Japan eight days later. Her aircraft began attacking targets in the Inland Sea on 24 July. Most of the BPF withdrew as planned on 10 August to prepare for Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu scheduled for November, but Indefatigable and several other ships remained to represent Britain at the end of operations. The ship's aircraft flew missions on 13 and 15 August; during the last of these missions, her Seafires shot down eight of twelve Mitsubishi A6M Zeros while losing one of their own and an Avenger gunner shot down another Japanese aircraft. After the ceasefire, her aircraft continued to fly CAP and flew reconnaissance missions looking for Allied prisoners of war.

Indefatigable arrived at Sydney on 18 September and began a leisurely refit that lasted until 15 November. After touring Australia and New Zealand, she arrived at Spithead on 15 March 1946 where she was modified to accommodate over 1,900 passengers. She ferried troops to and from Australia, Ceylon, Singapore and America for the rest of the year before being placed in reserve at the beginning of 1947. The ship was modified for use as a training ship and recommissioned in 1950 for service with the Home Fleet Training Squadron. She was decommissioned at Rosyth in October 1954 and towed to Gareloch in June 1955 where she was listed for disposal. Indefatigable was sold for scrap in September 1956 and subsequently broken up.

title: Implacable-class aircraft carrier


text:
HMS Implacable (R86)

HMS Implacable was the name ship of her class of two aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Upon completion in 1944, she was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and attacked targets in Norway for the rest of the year. She was subsequently assigned to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) where she attacked the Japanese naval base at Truk and targets in the Japanese Home Islands in 1945. The ship was used to repatriate liberated Allied prisoners of war (PoWs) and soldiers after the Japanese surrender, for the rest of the year. Implacable returned home in 1946 and became the Home Fleet's deck-landing training carrier, a role that lasted until 1950. She briefly served as flagship of the Home Fleet in 1950. During this time she participated in many exercises and made a number of port visits in Western Europe. She was placed in reserve in 1950 and converted into a training ship in 1952, and served as flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. The ship was considered for a major modernisation in 1951–1952, but this was rejected as too expensive and time-consuming. Implacable was decommissioned in 1954 and sold for scrap the following year.

Design and description
The Implacable class had its origin as an improved version of the Illustrious-class aircraft carriers for the 1938 Naval Programme. They were designed to be 2 kn faster, and to carry an additional dozen aircraft at the expense of reduced armour protection to remain within the 23000 LT available from the tonnage allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty. Implacable was 766 ft long overall and 730 ft at the waterline. Her beam was 95 ft at the waterline and she had a draught of 29 ft at deep load. The Implacable-class ships were significantly overweight and displaced 32110 LT at deep load. The ships had metacentric heights of 4.06 ft at light load and 6.91 ft at deep load as completed. Implacable's complement was approximately 2,300 officers and ratings in 1945.

The ships were equipped with four Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft using steam supplied by eight Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 148000 shp, enough to give them a maximum speed of 32.5 kn. On sea trials, Implacable reached speeds of 31.89 kn with 151200 shp. She carried a maximum of 4690 LT of fuel oil which gave her a range of 6720 nmi at 20 kn.

The 760 ft armoured flight deck had a maximum width of 102 ft. A single hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck. The Implacable-class carriers were equipped with two lifts on the centreline, the forward of which measured 45 by and served only the upper hangar, and the aft lift (45 by) which served both hangars. The upper hangar was 458 ft long and the lower hangar was 208 ft long; both had a maximum width of 62 ft. Both hangars had a height of only 14 feet which precluded storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters as well as many post-war aircraft and helicopters. Designed to stow 48 aircraft in their hangars, the use of a permanent deck park allowed the Implacable class to accommodate up to 81 aircraft. The additional crewmen, maintenance personnel and facilities needed to support these aircraft were housed in the lower hangar. The ships were provided with 94650 impgal of petrol.

Armament, electronics and protection
The ship's main armament consisted of sixteen quick-firing (QF) 4.5 in dual-purpose guns in eight twin-gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. Unlike the Illustrious-class ships, the roofs of the gun turrets were flat and flush with the flight deck. The gun had a maximum range of 20760 yd. Her light anti-aircraft defences included five octuple mounts for QF 2-pounder ("pom-pom") anti-aircraft (AA) guns, two on the flight deck forward of the island, one on the aft part of the island and two in sponsons on the port side of the hull. A single quadruple 2-pounder mount was also fitted on the port side of the hull. The 2-pounder gun had a maximum range of 6800 yd. The ship was also fitted with 61 Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in 19 single and 21 twin-gun mounts. These guns had a maximum range of 4800 yd, but some were replaced by 40 mm Bofors AA guns when the ships were transferred to the Pacific Theater as the 20 mm shell was unlikely to destroy a kamikaze before it hit the ship. The Bofors gun had a maximum range of 10750 yd. Two additional quadruple "pom-pom" mounts were added to Implacable before she joined the British Pacific Fleet in 1945. By the end of the war, she had 4 single Bofors guns, plus 17 twin and 17 single Oerlikon mounts. By April 1946 these had been reduced to 12 Bofors guns, 8 twin and 14 single Oerlikon guns.

They were fitted with the Type 277 surface-search/height-finding radar on top of the bridge and a Type 293 target indicator radar on the foremast. The ships probably carried Type 279 and Type 281B early-warning radars, based on the radars fitted aboard the Illustrious-class carrier HMS Victorious (R38) late in the war. In addition, Type 282 and Type 285 gunnery radars were mounted on the fire-control directors.

The Implacable-class ships had a flight deck protected by 3 in of armour. The sides of the hangars were either 1.5 in or 2 in. The ends of the hangars were protected by 2-inch bulkheads and the armour of the hangar deck ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 in in thickness. The waterline armour belt was 4.5 in thick, but only covered the central portion of the ship. The belt was closed by 1.5 to 2-inch transverse bulkheads fore and aft. The underwater defence system was a layered system of liquid- and air-filled compartments as used in the Illustrious class. The magazines for the 4.5-inch guns lay outside the armoured citadel and were protected by 2 to 3-inch roofs, 4.5-inch sides and 1.5 to 2-inch ends.

Construction and service
Implacable was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. at their shipyard in Clydeside on 21 February 1939, as Yard Number 672. Her construction was temporarily suspended in 1940–41, in favour of higher-priority ships needed to fight in the Battle of the Atlantic, before she was launched on 10 December 1942 by Queen Elizabeth. Captain Lachlan Mackintosh was appointed to command the ship in November 1943. She was commissioned on 22 May 1944, and began sea trials which revealed a significant number of problems that required rectification, so the ship was not formally completed until 28 August. Implacable was assigned to the Home Fleet and was working up over the next several months while the Fairey Fireflies of 1771 Squadron flew aboard on 10 September. The squadron was followed by the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers of 828 and 841 Squadrons that made up 2nd Naval TBR Wing later that month.

Her first mission was to locate the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz which had left its anchorage in Kaafjord in early October. Implacable departed Scapa Flow on 16 October, and a section of her Fireflies spotted the battleship off Håkøya Island near Tromsø two days later. No attack was mounted because the carrier lacked any single-seat fighters aboard to escort the strike aircraft, although they did damage a cargo ship before returning home. On 16 October, the Supermarine Seafires of 887 and 894 Squadrons of 24th Naval Fighter Wing landed aboard. In late October she participated in Operation Athletic off the Norwegian coast, where her aircraft sank six ships and damaged a German submarine for the loss of one Barracuda, while conducting the Royal Navy's last wartime torpedo attack. On 1 November Captain Charles Hughes-Hallett relieved Mackintosh and assumed command of the ship. The Barracudas were replaced by the Seafires of 30th Naval Fighter Wing, which consisted of 801 and 880 Squadrons, on 8 November and the Seafires provided air cover for minelaying operations by escort carriers from 11 to 21 November. The next day, Admiral Sir Henry Ruthven Moore, Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, hoisted his flag in Implacable and the ship set sail to hunt for a convoy that had been reported near Alsten Island (Operation Provident) with the Seafires and Fireflies of 801, 880, and 1771 Squadrons aboard. Bad weather prevented aircraft from being launched until 27 November, but they located the convoy and sank two merchantmen, including MS Rigel, and damaged six others. MS Rigel was used as a German prisoner of war (POW) transport and the sinking resulted in more than 2,500 dead, mostly POWs. Upon her return to Scapa on 29 November, Moore lowered his flag, but Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, second in command of Home Fleet, hoisted his flag on 6 December for Operation Urbane, another minelaying operation during which her Fireflies helped to sink a German minesweeper. Dalrymple-Hamilton transferred his flag off Implacable when she returned to Scapa on 9 December. On 15 December she began a refit at Rosyth preparatory to her transfer to the British Pacific Fleet, which included augmenting her light AA armament.

Upon its completion on 10 March 1945, 801, 828, 880, and 1771 Squadrons reembarked with a total strength of 48 Seafires, 21 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and a dozen Fireflies, the largest air group aboard a British carrier thus far. Implacable departed six days later to join the BPF and arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on 25 March. While passing through the Suez Canal, a strong gust of wind forced her ashore and it took her escorting tugboats five hours to pull her off. Undamaged, she proceeded on her voyage and reached Sydney on 8 May 1945 (V-E Day).

Implacable arrived at the BPF's main operating base at Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, on 29 May. A week later Rear Admiral Sir Patrick Brind hoisted his flag in preparation for Operation Inmate, an attack on the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands that began on 14 June. Having flown 113 offensive sorties over the two days of the attack, with only one loss of a Seafire to enemy action, the carrier and her escorts returned to Manus Island on 17 June. On 30 June 8th Carrier Air Group was formed, absorbing No. 24 Naval Fighter Wing, to control all of the air units aboard Implacable.

After working up, she sailed to join the main body of the BPF off the Japanese coast on 6 July, and rendezvoused with them ten days later. Implacable flew off eight Fireflies and a dozen Seafires against targets north of Tokyo on 17 July, but only the Fireflies were able to locate their targets because of bad weather. Eight Fireflies and twenty Seafires attacked targets near Tokyo the next day, before more bad weather halted flying operations until 24–25 July, when the BPF's aircraft attacked targets near Osaka and the Inland Sea, crippling the escort carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Kaiyo. After replenishing, airstrikes resumed on 28 and 30 July, the British sinking the escort JAPANESE ESCORT SHIP Okinawa near Maizuru. A combination of bad weather, refuelling requirements and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima delayed the resumption of air operations until 9 August. During the day, Implacable's Seafires flew 94 sorties and her Fireflies flew 14 against targets in northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido for the loss of two Seafires. The attacks were repeated the next day, sinking two warships, numerous small merchantmen and destroying numerous railroad locomotives and parked aircraft. The BPF had been scheduled to withdraw after 10 August to prepare for Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu scheduled for November, and the bulk of the force, including Implacable, departed for Manus on 12 August. Her aircraft flew over 1,000 sorties since her arrival the previous month.

Post-war
She arrived at Sydney on 24 August, and had her hangars refitted to accommodate Allied PoWs and soldiers for repatriation. Having left her air group behind to maximize the numbers of passengers she could carry, the ship arrived at Manila on 25 September, where she loaded over 2,000 British, American and Canadian PoWs. She dropped off the Americans at Pearl Harbor on 5 October and continued on to deliver British and Canadian passengers at Vancouver six days later. Opened for public tours, Implacable remained for a week before sailing to Hong Kong to pick up several hundred PoWs and continued onwards to Manila to load 2,114 more passengers. She delivered them to Balikpapan, Borneo, for transhipment to Britain. In their place the carrier embarked 2,126 men of the 7th Australian Division, and their equipment, to return to Australia. She arrived at Sydney on 17 November and sailed on 8 December to load more returning troops from Papua New Guinea. Arriving back at Sydney before Christmas, the ship had her additional bunks, etc., removed to return her to operational status.

In January 1946 her air group flew aboard, minus the disbanded 880 Squadron, and with 1790 Squadron replacing 1771 Squadron. After several days of flying exercises, Implacable made a port visit to Melbourne together with her sister Indefatigable and several other ships. She became the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir Philip Vian, the newly appointed second in command of the BPF on 31 January. She continued a relaxed schedule of training and port visits until she began a refit on 15 March in Sydney, that lasted until 29 April, when she put to sea to fly on her aircraft and to dump overboard the 16 Lend-Lease Avengers belonging to 828 Squadron (Britain had to either pay for them or dispose of them with the end of the war, and lacked the means to do the former). She sailed for home on 5 May and reached Devonport on 3 June, where Vian struck his flag.

Implacable became the deck-landing training carrier for the Home Fleet when she next put to sea in August. On 25 September Captain Aubrey Mansergh assumed command of the ship. Two months later she participated in an exercise with the Home Fleet and was lightly damaged when she collided with the light carrier HMS Vengeance (R71) while docking in Devonport on 7 November. On 1 February 1947, she joined the other ships of the Home Fleet as they rendezvoused with the battleship HMS Vanguard (23), which was serving as the royal yacht to escort King George VI as he set out for the first royal tour of South Africa. Implacable hosted the king and his family on 7 February, staging a small air show for them after which the queen addressed the crew. After leaving the royals, she made port visits at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Dakar, Senegal before arriving in the Western Mediterranean for more training. Arriving home on 7 March, she began a lengthy refit at Rosyth on 17 April.

Upon its completion in October 1947 she embarked 813 Squadron, flying Blackburn Firebrand TF.5s, and resumed training. Captain John Stevens relieved Mansergh on 9 February 1948, as the latter had been promoted. In June and July, the ship participated in a series of demonstrations for students in the Royal Navy's staff college. Among these was the first carrier landing by a Gloster Meteor jet-powered fighter, flown by Lieutenant-Commander Eric Brown, landings by prototypes of the Westland Wyvern and Short Sturgeon, rocket firing by Fireflies and an "attack" on Implacable by motor torpedo boats. She completed a 10-week refit on 10 November and resumed deck-landing practices. She sailed for Gibraltar on 27 February 1949 and 801 Squadron flew aboard on 5 March with its de Havilland Sea Hornets, the day after she arrived there. Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, commander-in-chief of Home Fleet, hoisted his flag aboard the carrier on 6 March before beginning a short exercise with some of the other ships of Home Fleet. She made port visits in Oslo and Bergen, Norway, in June, hosting King Haakon VII. While berthed at Portsmouth, King Abdullah I of Jordan visited on 19 August and the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee visited 10 days later. 702 Squadron flew aboard with seven de Havilland Sea Vampires in September to conduct carrier evaluations with the new fighter jets that lasted until 11 November. McGrigor was relieved by Admiral Vian ten days later.

Implacable spent February and March 1950 training in the Western Mediterranean and Captain H. W. Briggs assumed command on 1 April. She resumed flight training in the Irish Sea and off the western coast of Scotland until she made a port visit to Copenhagen in mid-July. King Frederik IX of Denmark inspected the ship on 18 July and Admiral Vian transferred his flag to Vanguard on 11 September. Two days later she was placed in reserve and slowly converted into a training ship by the addition of extra accommodation and classrooms. During this time she was considered for a major reconstruction that would combine her two hangars into a single hangar with a height of 17 ft and allow her to operate 30000 lb aircraft. In addition her armament would be modernised and the fuel supply for her aircraft would be more than doubled. A similar reconstruction was then in progress for Victorious, but it proved to be much more expensive than planned and also took more time than had been estimated. Short of both time and money for the project, the Admiralty cancelled the modernisation in June 1952.

Implacable was recommissioned on 16 January 1952 as the flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. On 13 February she arrived at Dover to serve as the port's guard ship before and after the state funeral of King George VI, to salute royalty and heads of state arriving by sea. After its conclusion, the ship sailed for the western Mediterranean to rendezvous with her sister for exercises. In June the two sisters represented a fast troop convoy being attacked by aircraft during an air defence exercise. They visited Copenhagen in the next month before returning home. Implacable sailed for Gibraltar on 25 September and made a port visit to Lisbon, Portugal, before returning to Devonport for a refit. On 16 November she had an oil fire in her galley that damaged her electrical wiring badly enough to require extending her refit to 20 January 1953. She spent most of February and March in the western Mediterranean together with her sister, participating in exercises before sailing to Southampton for a brief refit.

For the Coronation Fleet Review of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June, she flew the flag of Vice Admiral John Stevens, her former commanding officer, now Flag Officer, Home Fleet Training Squadron. On 5 September Rear Admiral H. L. F. Adams relieved Stevens and the ship joined Indefatigable for fleet exercises off the Scilly Isles and in the Bristol Channel the following month. She ferried the 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders from Devonport to Trinidad in response to a crisis in British Guiana, and transported a battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers from Trinidad to Jamaica in October, returning home on 11 November. On 19 August 1954, she was relieved as flagship by the light carrier HMS Theseus (R64).

Decommissioning and disposal
Implacable was decommissioned on 1 September 1954 and sold to Thos. W. Ward for breaking up on 27 October 1955 after being towed to Gareloch. Implacable was scrapped at Inverkeithing beginning the following month.

title: HMS Implacable (R86)


text:
John J. Parker

John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885 – March 17, 1958) was an American politician and United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was an unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1930. He was also the United States alternate judge at the Nuremberg trials of accused Nazi war criminals and later served on the United Nations' International Law Commission.

Early and family life
Born on November 20, 1885, in Monroe, North Carolina, Parker was the oldest of four children born to Frances Ann (Johnston) and John Daniel Parker. He was a descendent of William Bradford, a founder of Plymouth Colony, in Massachusetts, and of associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States James Iredell. He was also a brother of Samuel I. Parker, first recipient of the army's three highest decorations for valor.

Parker received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1907 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa and was class president. He received a Bachelor of Laws in 1908 from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Following a legal apprenticeship in Greensboro, North Carolina, he practiced law in Monroe from 1909 to 1922, and then in Charlotte, North Carolina until 1925.

On November 23, 1910, he married Maria Burgwin Maffitt. They had three children: Sara Burgwin, John Jr., and Francis Iredell.

Parker ran unsuccessfully for political office on three occasions as a Republican. In 1910, he was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina's 10th congressional district. In 1916, he was a candidate for Attorney General of North Carolina. Then, in 1920, he was a candidate for Governor of North Carolina.

From 1923 to 1924 Parker served as a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. He was tasked with prosecution of former Wilson Administration officials for alleged frauds associated with World War I demobilization. His efforts resulted in no indictments of convictions. Nonetheless, he made favorable impressions upon Justice Department colleagues, including then Attorney General and future Supreme Court Justice Harlan F. Stone.

Federal judicial service
Parker received a recess appointment from President Calvin Coolidge on October 3, 1925, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by Judge Charles Albert Woods. He was nominated to the same position by President Coolidge on December 8, 1925. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14, 1925, and received his commission the same day. He was a member of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges (now the Judicial Conference of the United States) from 1931 to 1948, and was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1948 to 1957. Parker served as Chief Judge from 1948 until his death in 1958.

Unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination
On March 21, 1930, Parker was nominated by President Herbert Hoover as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Edward Terry Sanford. His confirmation was opposed by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. AFL president William Green specifically faulted Parker for a 1926 Fourth Circuit Court decision which he authored regarding the United Mine Workers, involving antitrust law and yellow-dog contracts. The NAACP joined the opposition in response to remarks Parker had made while a candidate for governor in 1920 about the participation of African Americans in the political process: "The participation of the Negro in politics is a source of evil and danger to both races and is not desired by the wise men in either race or by the Republican Party of North Carolina."

NAACP Acting Secretary Walter Francis White sent Parker a telegram asking Parker if he had been quoted correctly, and if he still held such views; Parker never replied. In response, the NAACP initiated a grassroots campaign against the nomination and White testified before the Judiciary Committee. On April 21, 1930, the committee voted 10–6 to forward the nomination to the full Senate with an adverse recommendation. Anticipating a close vote, White sent a telegram to Vice President Charles Curtis imploring him, if the vote ended in a tie, to cast his tie-breaking vote against confirmation. On May 7, 1930, the Senate rejected Parker's nomination by a 39–41 roll call vote. This was the first Supreme Court nomination rejected by the Senate since that of Wheeler Hazard Peckham in 1894. Two days later, President Hoover nominated Owen Roberts to fill the vacancy; Roberts was swiftly confirmed on May 20, 1930.

Later life and death
From 1945 to 1946, Parker served as an alternate judge on the International Allied Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany. In 1954, he was elected to serve on the United Nations' International Law Commission.

Parker died on in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 1958, while still in active judicial service. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Legacy
The Judge John J. Parker Award is presented annually by the North Carolina Bar Association.

title: John J. Parker


text:
Audacious-class aircraft carrier

The Audacious-class aircraft carriers were a class of aircraft carriers proposed by the British government in the 1930s - 1940s and completed after the Second World War. The two ships built were heavily modified and diverged over their service lives. They were in operation from 1951 until 1979.

History
The Audacious class was originally designed as an expansion of the Implacable-class aircraft carrier with double storied hangars. However, it was realised that the hangar height would not be sufficient for the new aircraft that were expected to enter service, so the design was considerably enlarged. Four ships were laid down between 1942 and 1943 during World War II as part of the British naval buildup - Africa, Irresistible, Audacious and Eagle. At the end of hostilities Africa and Eagle were cancelled. Work on the remaining two was suspended. They would be renamed and built to differing designs in the 1950s.

As the builds of Audacious (renamed Eagle) and Irresistible (renamed Ark Royal) progressed they differed so much that they effectively became the lead (and sole) ships of each of their own classes. They formed the backbone of the postwar carrier fleet, and were much modified.

title: Audacious-class aircraft carrier


text:
HMS Eagle (R05)

HMS Eagle was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, in service 1951–1972. Until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in the 21st century, she and her sister HMS Ark Royal (R09) were the two largest Royal Navy aircraft carriers ever built.

She was laid down on 24 October 1942 at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast as one of four ships of the Audacious class. These were laid down during the World War II as part of the British naval buildup during that conflict. Two were cancelled at the end of hostilities, and the remaining two were suspended. Originally called Audacious, she was renamed Eagle (the fifteenth Royal Navy ship to receive this name), taking the name of the cancelled third ship of the class on 21 January 1946. She was finally launched by Princess Elizabeth on 19 March 1946.

Although Eagle was completed in October 1951 without an angled flight deck, one was added three years later. In 1952 she took part in the first large NATO naval exercise, Exercise Mainbrace.

Design and construction
The Audacious-class aircraft carriers were intended as a larger follow-on to the Implacable-class aircraft carrier of aircraft carriers with armoured hangars, with the design being modified before orders being placed to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft, which led to the displacement growing from the originally planned 27000 LT to 32500 LT by the time the ships were ordered. Four ships were ordered, although one, Africa, was cancelled before construction began.

The first of the class, Audacious was laid down at Harland & Wolff's Belfast shipyard on 24 October 1942. Construction was slowed by the need to concentrate resources on more urgent requirements, such as the construction of landing craft, and none of the ships of the class had been launched when the end of the Second World War brought large cuts in the shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. The third ship of the class, Eagle, which was only 26% complete, was canceled in December 1945, with Audacious being renamed Eagle on 21 January 1946. The newly renamed Eagle was launched by Princess Elizabeth on 19 March 1946, but construction of the two carriers was slowed for three years while the Royal Navy's requirements for aircraft carriers was reviewed, it being eventually decided to complete Eagle to a similar standard to that planned in 1945, while Ark Royal would be completed to an improved design. Eagle was finally completed on 1 October 1951.

As built, Eagle was 803 ft long overall, 750 ft at the waterline and 720 ft between perpendiculars, with a beam of 112 ft and a draught of 36 ft at deep load. Displacement was 43060 LT standard, with full load of up to 53390 LT. Eight Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers fed steam to Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines rated at 152000 shp which in turn drove four propeller shafts. This gave a speed of 31.5 kn at deep load.

Service
Eagle started Sea trials on 31 October 1951, with initial flying trials starting on 14 February 1952 and the ship being accepted into service on 1 March 1952. Eagle continued to work up her crew, embarking an initial air wing equipped with two squadrons of Supermarine Attacker jet fighters, two squadrons of Fairey Firefly anti-submarine aircraft and a squadron of Blackburn Firebrand attack aircraft, and in September 1952, took part in the big NATO naval exercise, Exercise Mainbrace off the coast of Norway and Denmark.

In early 1953 Eagle visited the Mediterranean, before returning to home waters when in June she took part in the Fleet Review at Spithead to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She joined the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1954, before returning to British waters in May.

Eagle was refitted at Devonport Dockyard from June 1954 to February 1955. In order to ease operations with jet aircraft, the ship was fitted with a 5.5 degree angled flight deck, which owing to the width of Eagle's flight deck, could be accommodated without major structural changes, although it required the ship's arrestor gear to be rearranged, and removal of nine Bofors guns (one Mark-6 six barrelled mount and three single mounts). A mirror landing aid was also fitted. Following work-up, Eagle deployed to the Mediterranean before taking part in the autumn NATO exercises in the North Atlantic. In May 1956, Eagle was deployed to Malta to work up for another stint in the Mediterranean Fleet.

Eagle's first wartime service came in 1956, when she took part in the Suez Crisis. with Captain H C D MacLean, DSC in command. The ship's aircraft of that period included Westland Wyverns, Douglas Skyraiders, Hawker Sea Hawks and de Havilland Sea Venoms.

Rebuild
The Admiralty had originally planned to give Eagle a complete rebuild on the lines of HMS Victorious (R38), but due to high costs, plans to fit new geared steam turbines and a stretched hull were abandoned. Eagle was instead given a more austere but extensive modernization that provided greater radar and processing capability than the systems fitted to Victorious. The changes included major improvements to the accommodation, including the installation of air conditioning. The island was completely rebuilt and a 3D Type 984 radar was installed, with processing capacity to track and rank 100 targets, twice the capability of the early 984 system fitted to Hermes and Victorious. The flight deck was modified and included a new 2½ inch armoured deck with a full 8.5 degree angle, two new steam catapults (BS5s, 151 ft stroke on the port side forward and 199 ft stroke in the waist) were fitted as well as new arrester gear (DAX I) and mirror sights. As well as an overhaul of the DC electrical systems, AC generators were also fitted to give additional power.

It was decided that Eagle would have her anti-aircraft guns removed and replaced by the Seacat missile system, though her aft four 4.5 inch gun turrets were retained, and all of her original machinery and equipment would be fully overhauled.

In 1959 Eagle entered Devonport Dockyard to begin this extensive refit, and by May 1964 it was complete. Standard displacement had increased to around 44,100 tons (full load displacement was 54,100 tons) and Eagle was now the largest aircraft carrier in the Royal Navy. Total cost of the refit was £31 million. The refit was intended to extend her operational life for another 10 years, and she now operated Blackburn Buccaneer, de Havilland Sea Vixen, Supermarine Scimitar and Fairey Gannet aircraft, but water-cooled jet blast deflectors (needed to operate the RN Phantom fighters) were not fitted, and therefore the full potential of the ship was not realized. In 1964-5 it was claimed Eagle and the proposed CVA01 and half sized Hermes would be a viable three carrier fleet until 1980. Victorious would have been replaced by CVA01 in 1973. In reality the 1958 Royal Navy assessment was that with affordable modernization of the existing carrier fleet, only HMS Hermes would be effective after 1975, and she was too small. These assessments by the Director of Naval Construction in November 1958 were very accurate, taking into account the slower than expected pace of reconstruction, corrosion of war-built hulls, the obsolete power trains except in Victorious, and the cheap unsatisfactory mix of DC electrics with AC add-on generators where needed in Eagle and Ark Royal.

Refit
In early 1966 Eagle was refitted at Devonport once more and was fitted with a single DAX II arrestor wire (no.3, her other wires were DAX I). She was recommissioned in 1967. Eagle was originally intended to receive a further refit that would have enabled her to comfortably operate the McDonnell Douglas Phantom (she had already successfully operated them in trials). Her two BS5 catapults fitted in her 1959–64 refit were already powerful enough to launch fully laden F-4s, but her Jet Blast Deflectors were still of the older steel plate design, and the reheated exhaust of the Phantom's Rolls-Royce Spey engines required water-cooled deflector plates. It was also planned to fit bridle catchers to the catapults as a cost-saving measure, as the bridles would otherwise be lost after a single launch.

During the Phantom FG1 trials (involving three newly delivered aircraft operated by 700P NAS) the longer waist catapult was used, and a thick steel plate was chained to the deck behind the catapult to absorb the heat of the Phantom's afterburners. The JBD was not used as it would have been damaged, and after each launch fire hoses sprayed water on the deck plate to cool it down before the next aircraft could be loaded onto the catapult.

While fitting adequate blast deflectors and other minor changes for Phantom operation were estimated to cost no more than £5 million in 1968, refitting the ship to operate with a modern airgroup of Phantoms into the late 1970s was clearly going to cost much more, and the new Conservative government in 1970 confirmed plans to convert HMS Hermes (R12) to a Commando carrier and withdraw Eagle. In February 1972, the Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Carrington, estimated refitting Eagle to operate Phantoms would cost £25–30 million, and the overall manpower and cost requirements of operating two large strike carriers were beyond Britain, particularly as Ark Royal was expected to serve to the end of the 1970s with only two short refits. To preserve Eagle in maintained or unmaintained reserve would require refits, estimated at around £4 million, every 3–4 years, and maintenance crew of 350–400 Navy personnel for £1.5–2 million a year. Reactivation would take four and a half months to a year, while maintaining a Sea Vixen squadron was unjustified expense for aircraft that were obsolete. The refit of Ark Royal cost £32 million to allow operations of a fully modern airwing, though it was generally accepted that even after her return to service she considered to be in a significantly worse overall material state in comparison to Eagle. Of the 48 Phantom FG1s ordered for the FAA, 20 were diverted to the RAF equipping 43 Sqn, though some were loaned back to the Navy to equip the Phantom FG1 training unit 767 NAS which trained both RN and RAF Phantom crews until it was disbanded in 1972.

Decommissioning
The 1966 decision to run-down the RN fixed wing carrier fleet (Centaur had already been laid up as an accommodation ship, and Victorious was soon to be prematurely scrapped, following a minor fire) meant Eagle's days were numbered. Eagle was paid off in January 1972 at Portsmouth after 20 years and 4 months of service, and was stripped of reusable equipment (radars and missile systems primarily), after which she was towed to Devonport where she was placed in reserve and moored in a stretch of the River Tamar known as the Hamoaze. In 1974, she was released from her moorings, towed up river, and secured in number 10 Dock, Devonport Dockyard, where she was further stripped of essential spares for Ark Royal, before being towed back to her mooring position.

Up until 1976 she was officially still in reserve, but having been exhausted as a source of spares for Ark Royal, Eagle was then sold for scrap and towed from Devonport on 14 October 1978 to Cairnryan near Stranraer to be broken up, clearing her mooring space for her sister and arriving there five days later. The lower hull of Eagle was still being broken up when her sister Ark Royal arrived at Cairnryan for demolition on 28 September 1980. One of her anchors (along with one of Ark Royal's) stands guard at the entrance to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.

title: HMS Eagle (R05)


text:
HMS Ark Royal (R09)

HMS Ark Royal (R09) was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1979, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier. She was the first aircraft carrier to be equipped with an angled flight deck at its commissioning; her sister ship, HMS Eagle (R05), was the Royal Navy's first angle-decked aircraft carrier after modification in 1954. Ark Royal was the only non-United States vessel to operate the McDonnell Douglas Phantom at sea.

Construction and modifications
Ark Royal was the sister ship to HMS Eagle (R05), which was initially named HMS Audacious, hence the name of the class. Four Audacious-class ships were laid down, but two (HMS Africa and the original HMS Eagle) were cancelled when the Second World War ended, and construction of the other two was suspended for several years. Both completed ships were extensively upgraded throughout their lifetimes.

A contract was placed with Cammell Laird on the River Mersey on March 19, 1942, to build the first ship of the class. While it had been originally planned to name the ship Irresistible, this was changed to Ark Royal before ordering to commemorate the aircraft carrier lost in 1941. The ship, which was the largest warship ever to be built by Cammell Laird, was laid down at Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on May 3, 1943, as yard number 1119. Construction was slow, and was suspended after the end of the Second World War to allow the ship's design to be updated to better suit her for the operation of modern aircraft. Ark Royal was launched by Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, on May 3, 1950. She was completed on February 25, 1955, and commissioned the next day at Devonport.

In this time, she underwent redesign and, when completed, she was markedly different from her sister ship. Shortly before her launch from the Cammell Laird shipyard, an image of the ship painted with her white undercoat was captured by the pictorialist photographer E. Chambré Hardman. This has been exhibited many times under the name 'Where Great Ships Are Built' and later 'Birth of the Ark Royal'. When commissioned, she had a 5.5° partially angled flight deck, two steam catapults capable of launching aircraft weighing up to 30000 lb, a deck-edge lift on the port side (the first British ship to be fitted with such a device), modified armament, and the new mirror landing system. Ark Royal was the first ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults, as opposed to having them added after launching. These innovations allowed aircraft to land and take off from the carrier at the same time. Her flight deck as built was 800 by.

A further four years passed before she commenced her sea trials.

About a year after commissioning, her forward port 4.5 in guns were removed to improve aircraft operations over the angled deck. Four years later, the port deck-edge lift and the forward starboard 4.5 inch guns were also removed. After the 1964 refit, only one twin 4.5 inch gun mount remained aft on port and starboard side. From 1967 to February 1970, she underwent a refit which was a major rebuild to her structure, but only an austere update to her electronic equipment, and was confined to changes needed to operate the RN's version of the Phantom. Prior to, and during the refit, concerns over costs, the age of the hull, and changing political opinions over naval requirements threatened the refit, and even a possibility that the ship could be scrapped. However, convincing arguments to retain and upgrade the carrier won through.

The refit cost around £30 million, far less than the modernisation of Eagle, but also added several improvements, which allowed her to comfortably operate the larger Phantom and Buccaneer Mk.2 aircraft. Her modifications included a full 8.5° angled flight deck, new and far more powerful steam catapults, bridle-catchers, heavy-grade jet-blast deflectors (both of which Eagle did not receive), and heavy-weight arrestor cables. Twelve hundred miles of new cabling was installed, but the ship was not completely rewired and retained old DC electrics. A modified island (with a different arrangement from Eagle), and a partially new electronic suite were also added, though some of her original radars, such as 983 height-finders were retained, and she did not receive the 3-D air-search radar set that her sister had fitted, instead two double-array 966 versions of the standard RN 965 long-range system were fitted and one of the new 986 sets. Significantly, Ark Royal was the first and only RN carrier fitted with a USN carrier approach system, the AN/SPN-35 radar, increasing night aircraft operational capability and safety. Her flight deck size was increased port aft, giving her extra deck-park space for her air group that Eagle did not have. She was also fitted for four Seacat missile launchers, which were never installed, so she emerged from refit with no defensive armament except for Corvus decoy launchers. Significantly, there was little more than an overhaul of her steam turbines and boilers, meaning that mechanically she was very dated; however, the stripping-out of Eagle meant that for a time essential spares were available. Ark Royal was then scheduled for at the most only five years' more service by a new government policy to scrap the carriers by 1975. Intensive maintenance as well as a new programme of continuous servicing and repair (with RN maintenance ships always in her task groups) kept her going until late 1978, though increasing mechanical and electrical failures led to her decommissioning in early 1979.

At her entry into service, the ship had a complement of up to 50 aircraft, comprising Sea Hawks, Sea Venoms, Gannets, Skyraiders, and various helicopters. As later aircraft types grew in size and complexity, her air group fell to below 40 when she left service in 1978.

Operational history
Ark Royal participated in many exercises as part of the British fleet and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) squadrons, but saw no combat duty. She was not involved in the Suez Crisis in Egypt of 1956, about a year after her commissioning; she was on her way there when she ran a main propeller shaft bearing, and had to return to Devonport for a major refit. Eagle replaced her at Suez. In 1963, she carried out trials for a new type of Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft, the Hawker P.1127, which later developed into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The same aircraft, now having been redesigned and developed as the British Aerospace Sea Harrier, was later accepted as the primary strike capability of the future third and last Ark Royal from 1980 onwards.

She was part of the Beira Patrol enforcing the naval blockade of Rhodesia in 1965. The 1966 Defence White Paper planned the end of British aircraft carriers in the early 1970s, but she went into dock for her refit to head off dockyard redundancies and the likely political issues. A new government re-examined the case for carriers, finding that shore-based aircraft could not provide adequate cover for British concerns 'East of Suez'.

On 9 November 1970, whilst in the Mediterranean to participate in a NATO exercise, Ark Royal collided with Bravyy, a Soviet Navy Kotlin-class destroyer which was shadowing her (a common practice during the Cold War). Ark Royal was slightly damaged, while the Soviet destroyer sustained minor damage and two missing crew. Ark Royal's commanding officer, Captain Raymond Lygo, was cleared of blame at the subsequent court martial.

The ship featured in the 1960s British television series Not Only... But Also starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. When commissions ended, items were fired off the catapult into the sea, including pianos and once a toilet complete with paying-off pennant.

By 1970, Ark Royal had a complement of 39 aircraft. This typically comprised twelve Phantom FG Mk.1s, of 892 Naval Air Squadron, fourteen Buccaneer S Mk.2s of 809 Squadron, four Gannet AEW (Airborne Early Warning) Mk.3s of B Flight 849 Squadron, six Sea King HAS Mk.1s of 824 Squadron, two Wessex HAR Mk.1s of the Ship's Flight, and one Gannet COD Mk.4. later replaced by an AEW3. The Buccaneers doubled as tanker aircraft, using buddy refuelling pods, and as long-range reconnaissance aircraft with bomb bay-mounted camera packs. In July 1976, she represented Britain at the United States Bicentennial Celebration in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1972, the Buccaneers aboard Ark Royal took part in a long-range strike mission over British Honduras in Central America shortly before its independence as a constitutional monarchy named Her Majesty's Government of Belize to deter a possible invasion by Guatemala, which had long-standing territorial claims.

In 1977, under the flag of Admiral Sir Henry Leach KCB Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Ark Royal led the Royal Navy's tribute to and celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee at Spithead.

In the mid-1970s, the ship made a return to television. A major BBC documentary series, one of the earliest fly on the wall documentaries, Sailor was made, showing life on board the ship during a February-to-July 1976 Western Atlantic deployment. Her commanding officer at this time was Captain Wilfred Graham, a later Flag Officer Portsmouth, and the ship's Commander (executive officer) was Commander David Cowling. The theme tune for the programme was Sailing by Rod Stewart – a song that came to be associated with the ship and her successor. She visited Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 30 May until 14 June 1978.

She entered HMNB Devonport on December 4, 1978, and decommissioned on February 14, 1979. Like her sister Eagle, she had a relatively short (24 year) life, and when the White Ensign lowered for the last time, the Royal Navy no longer had fixed-wing aircraft at sea, a situation that persisted until the acceptance into service of HMS Invincible in March 1980 and the completion of the conversion of HMS Hermes to operate the Sea Harrier in mid-1981. On March 29, 1980, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that she would be sold for scrap, and so ended plans to preserve her. She left Devonport on 22 September 1980 under tow, to be scrapped at Cairnryan near Stranraer in Scotland, arriving on 28 September. When arriving at the breakers, her sister ship Eagle was in the final process of being broken up there. Breaking-up of Ark Royal took until 1983. During this period, many former crew travelled to the breakers' jetty at the remote corner of Loch Ryan to pay their last respects; some were reduced to tears when seeing the ship being torn to pieces. However, various parts of the ship remain as souvenirs or memorials; for instance, an anchor (along with an anchor from her sister ship Eagle) outside the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton. One of her other anchors is in Armada Way, Plymouth, near Plymouth Hoe.

Legacy
While Ark Royal's career spanned 24 years from the time of her commissioning (her name was a household word), she spent as much time in refit; repair and reserve and modernisation as in commissioned service (12 years). It required a lot of effort from her engineers to keep her serviceable between yard periods. Ark Royal had been poorly preserved during her lengthy construction from 1942 to 1955, and much of her machinery was obsolete by her completion, including her dated DC electrics, supplemented later by some AC systems, resulting in a ship that experienced regular defects and mechanical failure. Eagle was a more reliable and well-built ship, and spent far more time at sea than her sister. The scrapping of Ark Royal in 1980, two years after Eagle, marked the end of conventional fixed-wing aircraft operations aboard Royal Navy carriers. She had borne so many innovations, yet her replacement was not equipped with any of these. There was some discussion about preserving her as a museum ship, and some private funds were raised; the MOD would not sanction these efforts. The Fleet Air Arm Museum has subsequently mimicked the ship's island and flight deck in its central hall as an Aircraft Carrier Experience exhibition.

The Centaur-class aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (R12) remained in service after her, but had been converted to a helicopter commando carrier in 1971, and then as a V/STOL carrier. The much smaller Invincible-class aircraft carrier could carry only vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft and helicopters. The two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier carriers, which were commissioned in 2017 and 2019, were originally designed to operate V/STOL aircraft. Despite expert advice, and in an attempt to reduce costs, the UK government requested that the new carriers be modified to operate conventional CATOBAR (catapult-assisted takeoff and barrier/arrested recovery) aircraft. Fitting electromagnetic catapults would have required huge structural changes and an upgrade of the ships' energy generation, which proved unfeasible, and resulted in a decision to return to the original configuration.

Aircraft and squadrons

 * Hawker Sea Hawk
 * de Havilland Sea Venom
 * Fairey Gannet
 * Westland Wyvern
 * Grumman Avenger
 * McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG1
 * Blackburn Buccaneer
 * Supermarine Scimitar
 * de Havilland Sea Vixen
 * Westland Dragonfly
 * Westland Sea King
 * Westland Wessex

Commanding officers

 * 1954–1956: Captain Dennis Cambell RN
 * 1956–1958: Captain Frank Hopkins RN
 * 1959–1961: Captain Peter Hill-Norton RN
 * 1961–1963: Captain Donald Gibson RN
 * 1963–1964: Captain Michael Pollock RN
 * 1964–1965: Captain Anthony Griffin RN
 * 1965–1967: Captain Michael Fell RN
 * 1969–1971: Captain Raymond Lygo RN
 * 1971–1972: Captain John Roberts RN
 * 1972–1973: Captain Desmond Cassidi RN
 * 1973–1975: Captain John Gerard-Pearse RN
 * 1975–1976: Captain Wilfred Graham RN
 * 1976–1978: Captain Edward R Anson RN

title: HMS Ark Royal (R09)