HMS Ark Royal (R09)
February 28, 1955 - December 4, 1978
33,000 ts after renovation: 43 340 ts (1978 )
245 m ( 1950) 257 m ( 1969)
34.3 m ( 1950) 48.7 m ( 1969)
7.7 m ( 1950) 10.9 m ( 1969)
2250 man
8 three-drum boiler (Type Admiralty ) 4 Parsons turbines with single gear
31 knots
7000 nautical miles at 14 knots
78 43 after 1969
Desire Does Not Rest
The HMS Ark Royal ( R09 ) was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. The carrier, which was completed after the HMS Eagle as the second and last of the originally planned four ships Audacious class, served from 1955 to 1978 in the British navy.
- 4.1 Literature
- 4.2 External links
Technology
The Ark Royal was at its completion, 245 meters long and 34.3 meters wide, the depth was 7.7 meters, the displacement empty 33,000 tons standard, 42,390 loaded ts. Over the period of use of the torso and particularly the flight deck was extended by various tags on 257.5 meters and widened to 48.7 meters, the maximum displacement increased to 53 340 ts.
The drive was carried out by four Parsons geared turbines, which submitted its strength from a total of 152,000 hp to four shafts with a single screw. The turbines were given their steam from eight Admiralty three- drum boilers. The top speed was 31.5 knots, the range was 6,000 nautical miles with 6096 tonnes of heavy fuel oil gebunkertem at 24 knots speed.
The original anti-aircraft armament of sixteen 4.5-inch guns and twenty 40 - mm Bofors guns has been reduced over the years, the heavy cannons were removed in favor of lighter 20 - mm machine guns. 1964 all guns were removed and made preparations for the installation of Sea- Cat - air missiles, but these were never built.
History
Construction
The aircraft carrier was laid on May 3, 1943 Cammell Laird in Birkenhead as HMS Irresistible to Kiel. In 1945, he was renamed Ark Royal, with the end of World War II, the work was initially set. After the resumption of construction the ship was launched on 3 May 1950 by the stack, but the completion was not until 25 February 1955 when the Ark Royal was placed in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in service.
Use
As early as 1956 was the first overhaul, in which the front guns were removed as they obstructed the flight operations on deck. In November 1956, the Ark Royal took along with other ships of the Royal Navy at the Fleet Review in part by the Queen. 1957 operated on the carrier then mostly in the Atlantic. 1959 removed the remaining two front guns at another shipyard stay. 1962, the Blackburn Buccaneer was introduced as a carrier aircraft on board the Ark Royal, 1963, followed by tests with the Hawker P.1127, from the Harrier was developed later. In another dock period 1964, all guns were removed and installed new radar equipment on board. Between 1966 and 1970, the carrier was prepared for a long Dockaufenthalts for the use of the F- 4 Phantom, which from 1970 with twelve machines, the backbone of the Air Combat Group was formed, together with the 14 Buccaneers, the five Gannets and eight anti-submarine and transport helicopters.
In 1970 came during a night exercise with a NATO fleet in the Mediterranean to a collision with a destroyer of Kotlin class of the Soviet Navy, the shadowed the aircraft carrier. During the collision, the Ark Royal suffered only minor damage.
Fate
Originally, the phasing out of the support for 1972 was provided, however, delays in the planned successor made it necessary to keep the Ark Royal, despite their poor state, continue on active duty. This was made possible, inter alia, that parts of the already decommissioned sister ship Eagle were used for much-needed repairs. 1976 represented the Ark Royal, the United Kingdom at the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Independence of the United States in New York City and Fort Lauderdale. The decommissioning took place on 4 December 1978 in Devonport, in the following year, the carrier out of the ship's registry was deleted. Despite attempts by various organizations to obtain Ark Royal as a museum ship, the carrier was scrapped in Cairnryan ( Stranraer ) from 22 September 1980. The crash ended in 1983.