Spanish aircraft carrier Dédalo

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Dédalo at sea on 1 June 1988
History
Spain
NameDédalo
Laid down16 March 1942
Launched4 April 1943
Acquired
  • 30 August 1967 on loan[1]
  • Purchased outright 1972
Refit1976
StrickenAugust 1989
FateScrapped 2002
NotesServed in United States Navy 1943–1947 and 1948–1955 as USS Cabot
General characteristics
Displacement11,000
Length622.5 ft (189.7 m)
Beam
  • 71.5 ft (21.8 m) (waterline)
  • 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) (overall)
Draft26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement1112
Sensors and
processing systems
SPS-6 radar
Armament26 ×
Bofors 40 mm guns
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilities
  • Hangar: 70 m × 13 m × 5 m
  • Flight deck: 168 × 22 m, 2 elevators

Dédalo (Spanish for

balloon ship Dédalo that took part in the landings at Al Hoceima in 1925). She remained the fleet's flagship until Príncipe de Asturias replaced her. Dédalo was formerly the World War II-era light aircraft carrier USS Cabot
, which was acquired from the United States in the 1960s.

History

The Spanish Navy aircraft carrier Dédalo (R01) tied up at a pier at Naval Station Rota in 1976

In 1953 the Spanish government

Essex-class aircraft carrier (USS Lake Champlain) or an Independence-class light aircraft carrier (USS Cabot or USS San Jacinto).[2][3]

Dédalo moored in Rota in February 1982 along with the USS Raleigh and USS Saipan

Finally in 1967, after over twelve years in

SH-3D Sea King and other helicopters from 1967 to 1976.[citation needed
]

On 8 November 1972[4][citation needed], a Harrier was successfully tested on the Dédalo deck, a first in the history of the plane.

AV-8S Matador
overflies Dédalo in 1988

It was decided to order and deploy

Armada Española throughout 1976. A second batch of four AV-8S aircraft was delivered in 1980. Unlike some carriers used for Harrier operations, a ski-jump to assist STOVL takeoff was never installed on Dédalo, limiting the maximum takeoff weight of the Harriers.[citation needed
]

She then typically carried an air group of eight AV-8S fighters, four Sea King

AH-1 Cobras, and other specialized helicopters from the Spanish army, air force, and navy flew from her flight deck.[4][citation needed
]

During her Spanish service, Dédalo logged 1,650 days' steaming, covering 300,000 nautical miles (560,000 km), registering 30,000 landings and takeoffs, losing an AV-8A and three AB 212ASW helicopters to accidents.[6][unreliable source?]

Disposal

Replaced by the Spanish-built S/VTOL carrier Príncipe de Asturias in 1988, the Dédalo was struck by the Spanish Navy in August 1989, and she was given to a private organization in the U.S. for use as a museum ship. However, that private organization was unable to pay its creditors, and on 10 September 1999, the ship was auctioned off by the United States Marshals Service to Sabe Marine Salvage of Rockport, Texas. The scrapping of the hulk was completed in 2002.[citation needed]

See also

References

External links