HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81)
HNLMS Karel Doorman
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Venerable |
Ordered | 7 August 1942 |
Builder | Cammell Laird |
Yard number | 1126 |
Laid down | 3 December 1942 |
Launched | 30 December 1943 |
Commissioned | 27 November 1944 |
Decommissioned | April 1947 |
Identification | Pennant number R63 |
Fate | Sold to the Netherlands, 1 April 1948 |
Netherlands | |
Name | HNLMS Karel Doorman |
Namesake | Karel Doorman |
Acquired | 1 April 1948 |
Commissioned | 28 May 1948 |
Decommissioned | 29 April 1968 |
Refit |
|
Identification | R81 |
Fate | Sold to Argentina, 15 October 1968 |
Argentina | |
Name | ARA Veinticinco de Mayo |
Namesake | Date of the May Revolution |
Acquired | 15 October 1968 |
Commissioned | 12 March 1969 |
Decommissioned | 1997 |
Out of service | Inoperable by 1990 |
Refit | 1969 |
Homeport | Puerto Belgrano Naval Base |
Identification | V-2 |
Fate | Provided spare parts for Minas Gerais and remainder was scrapped in 2000 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Colossus-class aircraft carrier |
Displacement | 19,900 tons |
Length | 192 m (629 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 24.4 m (80 ft 1 in) |
Draught | 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) |
Installed power | 40,000 shp (30 MW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
Complement | 1,300 |
Armament | 12 x Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun Anti-Aircraft guns |
HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) (
Purchase
Built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead on 3 December 1942, Venerable was launched just over a year later and commissioned on 17 January 1945.
In 1948, Venerable's short career in the Royal Navy came to an end when she was sold to the Netherlands and recommissioned as HNLMS Karel Doorman, replacing a smaller Nairana-class escort carrier of the same name while in Dutch service.
In 1955-58 she was rebuilt with an 8° angled flight deck, new elevators, new island, 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, steam catapult, and all new aviation facilities and electronics were fitted, including a Dutch-built new radar. At the same time, a similar Dutch rebuild was done to her sister ship, the Minas Gerais.
Cruises
Karel Doorman, frigate Johan Maurits van Nassau, and light cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck made a voyage to the
In 1954, during a North American cruise, she visited Montreal, Quebec, Canada for an air show appearance.[2]
Early in 1959 the ship made a trip to the United States (Newport, Rhode Island and Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and then continued on to visit the Antilles again.
In 1960, during the Dutch decolonization and planned independence of Western New Guinea, a territory which was also claimed by Indonesia, Karel Doorman set sail along with two destroyers and a modified oil tanker to "show the flag". In order to avoid possible problems with Indonesia's ally Egypt at the Suez Canal, she instead sailed around the Horn of Africa. She arrived in Fremantle, Australia, where the local seamen's union went on strike in sympathy with Indonesia; the crew used the propeller thrust of aircraft chained down on deck to nudge the carrier into dock without tugs. In addition to her air wing, she was ferrying twelve Hawker Hunter fighters to bolster the local Dutch defence forces, which she delivered when she arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea. Karel Doorman was also to have visited Yokohama, Japan during this Asian cruise to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the establishment of Japanese-Dutch diplomatic relations but, due to Indonesian and local protests, Japan withdrew its invitation.[3]
After the 1964 refit, Karel Doorman served the rest of her career mostly conducting NATO anti-submarine patrols in the north Atlantic, no longer carrying strike or fighter aircraft as part of her regular air wing. Karel Doorman also regularly conducted various exercises near Scotland during her career.
Western New Guinea Crisis
During the 1960 crisis,
Decommissioning
In 1964, following the settlement of issues threatening its former colonial territories and changes in the mission for the Royal Netherlands Navy within NATO, coupled with the huge costs for operating and maintaining an aircraft carrier, it was decided to withdraw her from the operational fleet by the early 1970s. This was to coincide with the arrival of long range maritime patrol aircraft that were to take over the ASW role Karel Doorman had been tasked to perform ever since the start of the 1960s.
A boiler room fire on 26 April 1968 removed her from Dutch service.[5] To repair the fire damage, new boilers were transplanted from the incomplete HMS Leviathan, at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam. In 1969, it was decided that the costs for repairing the damage in relation to the relatively short time Karel Doorman was still to serve in the fleet proved to be her undoing and she was sold to the Argentine Navy, renamed Veinticinco de Mayo, where she would later play a role in the 1982 Falklands War.
In the late 1960s, the NATO
Air wing
First deploying as an attack carrier with 24 World War II era propeller driven
From 1958, she operated with an ASW/Strike profile with up to 14
In 1960, the Royal Netherlands Navy received 17 Canadian built
From 1959, Dutch Sea Hawks were equipped with Sidewinder missiles that significantly enhanced and extended their air-to-air combat capabilities. While never engaged in combat, the aircraft were present as a carrier based deterrent during the 1962 New Guinea Indonesia crisis.[7] They served aboard between 1957 and 1964 until Karel Doorman's overhaul, after which the attack role was eliminated and 22 aircraft were transferred to land based reserve storage - they were all retired from service by the end of the 1960s after the sale of Karel Doorman to Argentina.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Jacob van Heemskerck History". www.netherlandsnavy.nl.
- ^ "423 Squadron - Chapter 4". www.shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca.
- ^ "THE HIGH SEAS: Flying Dutchman". Time. 19 September 1960 – via content.time.com.
- ^ "Tu-16 Badger: The stealth from the Southern Hemisphere - Rubrik HISTORY". Archived from the original on 22 October 2008.
- ^ "World Aircraft Carriers List: Netherlands". www.hazegray.org.
- ^ "MLD". members.casema.nl. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "Hawker Sea Hawk Mark 50". www.historyofwar.org.
- ^ "KDoorman". www.steelnavy.com.
Bibliography
- W.H.E., van Amstel (1991). De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine vanaf 1945. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 9060139976.
- Brand, Bert (2005). Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman: vliegveld in zee. Emmen: Lanasta. ISBN 9086160018.
- Geneste, Willem (1990). Verguisd en geprezen: Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman. Bergen: Bonneville. ISBN 9073304024.
- Hoog, Arie (1991). De dikke boot: herinneringen aan Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman. Bergen: Bonneville. ISBN 9073304067.
- Kop, H.J.E. van der (1982). Vliegkampschepen: geschiedenis en ontwikkeling van het vliegkampschip Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman in de Koninklijke Marine. Bussum: De Boer maritiem. ISBN 9022818551.
- Kooger, Hans (1999). Het enige vliegkampschip van Nederland; de wereld van de carriers en herinneringen aan Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman. Berkel en Rodenrijs: Nederlandse Historiën.
- Hellema, Duco (2005). De Karel Doorman In Nieuw-Guinea: Nederlands Machtsvertoon In De Oost. Amsterdam: Boom. ISBN 9789085061823.
- Cats, Jacques (2014). Viermaal Karel Doorman. de Drvkkery Schrijverspodium. ISBN 9789081585644.
- Slot, Rob Bruins (1 November 2005). "Karel Doorman" (in Dutch). Andere Tijden. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
- Karremann, Jaime (2 June 2014). "Karel Doorman vliegkampschip (1948)" (in Dutch). marineschepen.nl. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
External links
Media related to R81 Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (ship, 1944) at Wikimedia Commons
- HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) in HD Color 1963
- This is HMS Karel Doorman
- Karel Doorman, Netherlands Carrier
- Naval-History.net HMS Venerable