HMS Warrior (R31)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Warrior and ARA Independencia.

HMS Warrior near Gibraltar
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Warrior
Builder
Harland and Wolff
Laid down12 December 1942
Launched20 May 1944
Commissioned2 April 1945
IdentificationPennant number: R31
FateTransferred to the Royal Canadian Navy
Canada
NameHMCS Warrior
Commissioned14 March 1946
Decommissioned23 March 1948
Motto"Haul together"[1]
FateReturned to Royal Navy
BadgeAzure, the head and shoulders of a Viking proper wearing the typical Viking helmet argent, wings or, coat of mail argent trimmed or[1]
United Kingdom
NameHMS Warrior
CommissionedNovember 1948
DecommissionedFebruary 1958
FateSold to Argentina in 1958
Argentina
NameARA Independencia
Commissioned8 July 1959
Decommissioned1970
IdentificationPennant number: V-1
FateScrapped in Argentina in 1971
General characteristics as built
Class and type
Colossus-class aircraft carrier
Displacement18,300 long tons (18,600 t)
Length
  • 630 ft 0 in (192.0 m) pp
  • 695 ft 0 in (211.8 m) oa
Beam80 ft 0 in (24.4 m)
Draught23 ft 3 in (7.1 m)
Propulsion
Speed25 knots (46 km/h)
Range12,000 nmi (22,224 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement1,300 (max)
Armament
  • 4 × twin
    40 mm Bofors guns
  • 20 × single 40 mm Bofors guns

HMS Warrior was a

nuclear testing at Christmas Island. In 1958, the vessel was sold to the Argentine Navy and entered Argentine service in 1959 as ARA Independencia. The aircraft carrier remained in service until 1970 when Independencia was placed in reserve. The following year, the ship was sold for scrap
.

Description

Main article: 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier

Warrior was a Colossus-class light aircraft carrier that was 630 feet 0 inches (192.0 m)

arrestor wires capable of stopping a 15,000-pound (6,804 kg) aircraft, with two safety barriers rated at stopping a 15,000-pound aircraft at 40 knots (74 km/h) Warrior had two aircraft lifts located along the centreline of the ship that were 45 by 34 feet (13.7 by 10.4 m) and could handle aircraft up to 15,000 pounds on a 36-second cycle.[6] The aircraft hangar was 275 by 52 feet (83.8 by 15.8 m) with a further 57 by 52 feet (17.4 by 15.8 m) section beyond the aft elevator, all with a clearance of 17 feet 6 inches (5.3 m). The hangar was divided into four sections by asbestos fire curtains. The hangar was fully enclosed and could only be entered by air locks and the lifts, due to the hazardous nature of aviation fuel and oil vapours.[7] The vessel had stowage for 98,600 imperial gallons (448,244 L; 118,414 US gal) of aviation fuel.[4]

The ship was powered by steam created by four

en echelon within the ship to prevent a single disabling torpedo strike.[4][8] The engines were rated at 42,000 shaft horsepower (31,319 kW) and the vessel had a capacity for 3,196 long tons (3,247 t) of fuel oil, with an range of 8,300 nautical miles (15,372 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h).[4][3] The ship's maximum speed was 25 knots (46 km/h). There was no armour aboard the vessel save for mantlets around the torpedo storage area. There were no longitudinal bulkheads, but the transverse bulkheads were designed to allow the ship to survive two complete sections of the ship being flooded.[4]

Warrior was designed to handle up to 42 aircraft. The aircraft carrier carried a wide range of ordnance for their aircraft from torpedoes,

40 mm Bofors guns.[9] The original radar installation included the Type 79 and Type 281 long-range air search radars, the Type 293 and Type 277 fighter direction radar and the "YE" aircraft homing beacon. The ship had a maximum ship's company of 1,300, which was reduced in peacetime.[10]

Construction and career

The contract to construct Warrior was placed on 7 August 1942. Warrior was built by

armoured frigate (at the time just a floating oil jetty) HMS Warrior was renamed to Oil Fuel Hulk C77 in August 1942 to free up her name, and the carrier was renamed to Warrior. Her keel was laid down on 12 December 1942, she was launched on 20 May 1944 and became the last of the Colossus class to finish construction.[11] The Royal Navy had originally intended to rush Warrior into service for operations in the Indian Ocean during the Second World War, thus she was built without heaters for some onboard equipment since heat was unnecessary in tropical operations.[citation needed
]

Royal Canadian Navy service

HMCS Warrior passing under the Lions Gate Bridge, 1947

As the focus of future operations at sea during the Second World War shifted to the Pacific theatre, planning began in May 1944 that the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) would require a larger fleet both in numbers and in size of ships. In the effort to get bigger, the RCN returned the escort carriers then on loan, Puncher and Nabob, in exchange for the loan of two light fleet carriers. A formal approach was first made in July, with negotiations being finalised in April 1945 when Warrior and Magnificent were acquired on loan with the option to purchase them outright at a later date. Negotiations were completed in May for the naval air squadrons that would be needed to man the aircraft carrier, but the war ended before the ships were completed.[12][13]

After the agreement with Canada went through, Canadian naval aviation was established with the formation of four squadrons transferred from the Fleet Air Arm intended to fly from Warrior; 803 Squadron and 883 Squadron equipped with Supermarine Seafires and 825 Squadron and 826 Squadron with Fairey Fireflys.[14] Warrior was completed, transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Warrior on 24 January 1946 and placed under the command of Captain Frank Houghton.[15] Sea trials were completed in March and flying trials were performed at Spithead following that. For the voyage to Canada, 803 and 825 Squadrons were embarked, while 883 and 826 Squadrons were paid off.[16]

Warrior entered Halifax harbour on 31 March 1946, a week after leaving Portsmouth. She was escorted by the destroyer HMCS Micmac and the minesweeper HMCS Middlesex, having officially joined the Canadian Atlantic Fleet on 23 March.[11][15] April through May was spent alongside fixing builder's defects before the ship began major fleet operations. In August, the aircraft carrier had its first loss, when a Firefly from 825 Squadron ditched, though both the pilot and observer were recovered. That same month, on 23 August while transiting the St. Lawrence River, Warrior ran aground at Pointe Sainte Antoine, near Montreal while en route to the city after her rudder jammed. Tugboats got the aircraft carrier unstuck from the mud bank she had run into the same day and Warrior continued on to Montreal where she became the largest ship to visit that port to that date.[17]

HMCS Warrior in Vancouver, British Columbia

The RCN experienced problems with the unheated equipment during operations in cold

paid off. The ship sailed for the UK on 12 February, arriving at Belfast on 20 February. On 1 March the ship moved to Spithead where the aviation fuel was removed.[18] Warrior was returned to the Royal Navy on 23 March 1948 at Portsmouth.[11]

Royal Navy service

HMCS Warrior returned to the United Kingdom and was recommissioned as HMS Warrior on 23 March 1948. Warrior was then refitted at

de Havilland Sea Vampire aircraft were used to test the concept, which was successful but not introduced into service. The flexible deck was composed of a rubber sheet supported by air bags. The new deck extended from the bow to the barrier forward of the island and was superimposed on the existing flight deck.[2] Aft of the flexible deck, a light steel ramp was placed over the flight deck rising to 2 feet 6 inches (0.8 m) in height with a single arrestor wire.[9] The trials lasted from November 1948 to March 1949 and upon completion, Warrior was paid off into the reserve at Portsmouth.[11]

HMS Warrior, USS Des Moines, and HMS Gambia at Grand Harbour, Malta, 1951

Warrior was reactivated in June 1950 and modified to carry troops and aircraft to the

Vung Tau, South Vietnam, transporting more than 3,221 people in two voyages and being awarded a South Vietnamese Presidential Citation.[19][20]

After returning to England another refit was carried out in 1955 at Devonport. This time Warrior received an

mirror landing aid and Type 961 CCA radar. As the only ship in the class to receive the upgrade, it was intended to turn Warrior into a training and trials ship.[22]

Following a short period as a training ship, Warrior was dispatched to the Pacific Ocean, where the aircraft carrier took part in

Admiralty was trying to sell her.[22]

Argentine Navy service

ARA Independencia in 1965
The badge of ARA Independencia
For other ships with the same name, see ARA Independencia.

Warrior was sold to Argentina in 1958 and renamed ARA Independencia on 6 August 1958. The Argentine naval ensign was raised on 4 November at Portsmouth and sailed for Argentina on 10 December.[21][22] The Argentine Naval Aviation began air operations from Independencia on 8 June 1959, even before the vessel was officially commissioned into the fleet. The ship was commissioned into the Argentine Navy on 8 July 1959.[21][a] The anti-aircraft armament was initially reduced to twelve 40 mm guns, soon further reduced to eight. In May 1962 the ship was however provided with one quadruple and nine double mountings of that caliber. After all the modifications the displacement of the ship had climbed to 19,600 long tons (19,900 t) while the vessel's maximum speed had declined to 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph).[21]

The air group, which had a maximum of 24 aircraft, was mainly formed from

Colossus class but with a more powerful catapult retrofitted while in Dutch service, entered service in 1969, and Independencia moved to the reserve in 1970. She was scrapped in 1971.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hobbs claims the ship was commissioned by the Argentine Navy on 24 July 1958.[22]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Arbuckle 1987, p. 127.
  2. ^ a b c Blackman 1953, p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c Hobbs 2013, p. 300.
  4. ^ a b c d e Chesneau 1980, p. 22.
  5. ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 298.
  6. ^ Brown 2012, p. 58.
  7. ^ Hobbs 2013, pp. 298, 300.
  8. ^ Brown 2012, p. 57.
  9. ^ a b Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon 1995, p. 487.
  10. ^ Blackman 1953, p. 7.
  11. ^ a b c d e Hobbs 2013, p. 320.
  12. ^ Macpherson & Barrie 2002, p. 237.
  13. ^ Kealy & Russell 1967, pp. 34–35.
  14. ^ Kealy & Russell 1967, p. 36.
  15. ^ a b Milner 2010, p. 162.
  16. ^ Kealy & Russell 1967, p. 39.
  17. ^ Kealy & Russell 1967, p. 40.
  18. ^ Kealy & Russell 1967, pp. 41–45.
  19. ^ McCart 2002, pp. 174–177.
  20. ^ "Ships of the Royal Navy: No. 29. H.M.S. Warrior". Navy News. February 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  21. ^ a b c d e Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon 1995, p. 5.
  22. ^ a b c d e f Hobbs 2013, p. 321.
  23. ^ Polmar, Norman (April 2008). "Historic Aircraft-The Navy's Frontline in Korea". Naval History Magazine. Vol. 22, no. 2. U.S. Naval Institute.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ARA Independencia (ship, 1944).
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