HMS Centaur (R06)
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| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Centaur |
| Builder: | Harland and Wolff |
| Laid down: | 30 May 1944 |
| Launched: | 22 April 1947 |
| Commissioned: | 1 September 1953 |
| Decommissioned: | 1965 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Identification: | Pennant number: R06 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Centaur |
| Type: | Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier |
| Displacement: | 24,000 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 737.75 ft (224.87 m) |
| Beam: | 123 ft (37 m) |
| Draught: | 27.8 ft (8.5 m) |
| Installed power: | 76,000 shp |
| Propulsion: | 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, Parsons geared turbines |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (13,000 km at 33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1,390 (including air group) |
| Armament: | 2 sextuple Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns 8 twin Bofors 40 mm 4 single Bofors 40 mm 4 single 3 pounder saluting guns |
| Armour: | 1 to 2 inch on flight deck |
| Aircraft carried: | 42 (decreased to 26 with jet fighters) |
HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to retain the original configuration with a straight axial flight deck rather than the angled flight decks of her three sister ships.[clarification needed] She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff though was not launched until 22 April 1947, sometime after World War II had come to a close, due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1 September 1953, a gap of almost nine years from when she was laid down in 1944.
Between 1956–1958 she underwent extensive modernisation with a six degree angled flight deck being added as well as steam catapults and arrestor cables giving her the ability to operate jet aircraft, such as the Hawker Sea Hawk and de Havilland Sea Venom, and after the 1960 Portsmouth refit the de Havilland Sea Vixen and Supermarine Scimitar.
In 1960 she was used during the filming of Sink the Bismarck!, to depict flight operations from both Victorious and HMS Ark Royal; (she is clearly marked with her post-war pennant number R06 in both scenes). Three surviving Fairey Swordfish biplanes were restored and flown from her decks, and scenes were also shot on the bridge of the carrier, and in the aircrew briefing room.
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[edit] Operations
In June 1961, President Abd al-Karim Qasim of Iraq, announced that Kuwait would be annexed by Iraq and the Emir of Kuwait requested assistance from the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The UK activated Operation Vantage and immediately sent HMS Victorious and accompanying vessels. HMS Bulwark landed a company of 42 Commando, Royal Marines at Kuwait airport. HMS Centaur arrived later to relieve Victorious. Iraq recognised Kuwaiti sovereignty in 1963, after Kassim had been killed in a coup.[1]
During the crisis in Aden, from 1963 onwards, Sea Vixens from HMS Centaur launched strikes on rebellious tribesmen in the Radfan during Operation Damon. In 1964, a mutiny occurred in Tanganyika. The 1st Tanganyika Rifles, who were based near the capital Dar-es-Salaam had become mutinous against their British officers, as well as seizing the British High Commissioner and taking over the airport. Britain decided, after urgent appeals for help, to deploy Centaur accompanied by 815 Naval Helicopter Squadron along with 45 Commando, Royal Marines. When Centaur arrived at Dar-es-Salaam, a company of Royal Marines were landed by helicopter on a football field next to the barracks of the mutineers. The company assaulted the barracks with full force in a chaotic but swift attack, securing the entrance to the barracks. After a call for the mutinous soldiers to surrender failed, the company demolished the front of the guardroom, with a deftly placed shot from an anti-tank rocket launcher. The culmination of the decision proved successful, with a large number of distressed soldiers pouring out into the open. Later on, four Sea Vixens from Centaur provided cover for more Royal Marines who were now landing on an air strip. The operation was a success and the rest of the mutineers soon surrendered, with the main culprits being arrested. Many Tanganyikans were jubilant when the country was restored to a stable and peaceful environment. The Royal Marines Band displayed the British forces appreciation of the happy welcoming that they had received from the Tanganyikans while attempting to restore the country to stability by taking part in a heavy schedule of Marches through the streets of Tanganyika. Centaur left on 29 January, nine days after originally sailing for what was then a country in crisis.
The following year, after conversion to a commando carrier like her sister-ships Bulwark and Albion was cancelled, she was consigned to the role of accommodation ship for the crew of Victorious while the latter ship undertook a refit. In 1966, Centaur was again an accommodation ship, this time for Eagle, while that ship was going through a refit. In 1970, she was towed to Devonport where she would await her fate for a further two years, when finally she was towed to Cairn Ryan and broken up.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ White, Christopher J; Robinson, Peter (2008–2010). "Gulf War Part 1: Operation Vantage". Historical RFA. http://www.historicalrfa.org/rfa-conflicts. Retrieved 18 Jan 2010.
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