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HMS Victorious (R38)

1941 COLD WAR WORLD WAR 2

History of the Victory (R38)

HMS Victorious is the product of a growing British naval armament movement amid escalating tensions in Europe under German leader Adolph Hitler. She was ordered on 13 January 1937 and laid by Vickers-Armstrong on 4 May 1937. She was officially launched on September 14, 1939 (the German invasion of Poland officially began World War II on September 1, 1939) and officially commissioned on May 14, 1941. She fought under the pennant R38 and the motto "Per Coelum et Aequorem Victrix", which means "Victory in the Air and at Sea".

HMS Victorious is the last of the four "Mighty Classes" of British aircraft carriers, which includes HMS Formidable, HMS illustrious and HMS Indomitable.

USS Victory is a conventional "straight forward" aircraft carrier design with a starboard island layout (including communications, radar and navigation) and a port flight deck. The chimney for exhausting the engine is located behind the superstructure. This clears most of the flight deck for getting in and out of the plane. Incoming planes approach from the rear, while outgoing planes come from the bow. Air defense systems are deployed around the flight deck, while hangar lifts provide access to the flight deck from below.

Aircraft of all types can be equipped with fuel and supplies and, if necessary, repaired at sea. Essentially, the Victory is envisioned as a floating island.

When built, Victory had a displacement of 29,500 tons, a barrel length of 673 feet, a beam of 95 feet, and a draft of 28 feet. Power is provided by 3 Parsons geared turbines connected to 6 Admiralty three drum boiler systems outputting 111,000 combined shaft horsepower driving 3 propeller shafts.

Under ideal conditions, this configuration allows the vessel to reach a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 11,000 nautical miles. Her various onboard systems and facilities require a large crew of 2,200 personnel, including the necessary aviation departments. Armor protection includes 3 inches on the flight deck, 2 inches on the hangar deck and 4 inches on the fuselage strap. While the standard armament is defense-oriented, it is the ship's important last line of defense and is spearheaded by 16 x 4.5-inch guns in eight two-gun turrets.

This was supported by 48 x 2 pounder 68 guns The next tier was the 21 x 40mm guns, arranged in two four-gun turrets, two two-gun turrets and nine single-gun turrets in the final tier is a 45 x 20mm artillery system spread over 45 single-barreled turrets Of course, the best defense of an aircraft carrier is their support fleet, these ships carry a wider range of anti-air, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare - can provide anti-ship forces, while Carriers focus on launching and recovering their most important aircraft.

Every airline's livelihood becomes its in-flight division. Throughout her long career, the Victor ended up carrying a number of different types, including those designed in the UK and those bought directly in the US under a lease-on-lease agreement. However, all types fell into the basic categories of fighter-bombers, torpedo bombers, and dive bombers during World War II.

Finally, at the height of her wartime service, Victory managed a flying group of more than 50 aircraft. Jets like the Blackburn Corsair followed in the post-World War II era.

HMS Victorious's first action was to pursue the legendary German battleship KMS Bismarck, which threatened Allied control of the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Her squadron left no trace when the battleship was attacked, but then the German battleship was finally fatally struck by planes from Ark Royal (91) on the same deck. HMS Victorious then served in the Arctic convoy to the Soviet Union and was threatened by German warships and U-boats.

In October 1941, she joined the British Home Fleet before returning again to support the Arctic convoy. During the successful operation to resupply Maltese troops, she was called to provide air cover, although she suffered minor damage from Italian bombers in the process.

She then provided air cover and attack capabilities during the famous Operation Torch landings in North Africa.

With the loss of the USS Hornet (the famous Doolittle key equipment in the attack on the Japanese mainland) and the severe damage to the USS Enterprise, the Americans were left with only one fleet carrier in the Pacific. This prompted the Royal Navy to lease her HMS Victorious to the Americans in December 1942.

The ship was refitted in Norfolk, Virginia, USA in January 1943 and named the aircraft carrier USS Robin to begin her US Navy tour. She arrived at Pearl Harbor in March 1943. After a more naval-focused overhaul, the USS Robin was ready for its Pacific mission in May 1943. From there, she provided vital air support for the New Georgia landings in the Solomon Islands during Operation Wheel.

Her tenure in the U.S. Navy ended in September 1943, when the aircraft carrier USS Robin, led by British Guardsmen, returned to the Atlantic to continue serving as the battleship USS Victory.

Now equipped with new radar, HMS Victorious is again used for escort support. Along with other Royal Navy ships, HMS Victorious was involved in the attack on the German battleship KMS Tirpitz, causing enough damage to disable the ship for the foreseeable future. In June 1944, Victory was assigned to the Eastern Fleet near Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) in the Far East.

In July, "Operation Crimson" was launched, and Victory sent attack aircraft to attack major Japanese facilities. Her last stint with the Eastern Fleet was in October before repairs in Mumbai began in November. Victory was then placed in charge of the British Pacific Fleet.

Until January 1945, their aircraft carried out further raids on Japanese targets. In April 1945, she was called in to support the U.S. landing on Okinawa.

By this time, the desperate Japanese accused their pilots of carrying out kamikaze suicide attacks on Allied surface ships, and HMS Victory was the target of such attacks in May (twice), despite her strong armor, The firepower was properly controlled, and the injury quickly stabilized. However, the attack claimed the lives of three sailors.

The next agenda for the Victory was additional raids on Japanese targets and ships to achieve final control of the mainland islands in May 1945. She successfully engaged the escort carrier IJN Kaiyo and had her out of service during the war.

World War II finally ended in August 1945 with the unconditional surrender of Japan (Germany in May). HMS Victorious then toured the South, taking part in the Victory Parade in Sydney, Australia to mark the end of the war.

She then sailed into home waters in September 1945 and arrived in England in October.

In October 1947, HMS Victorious was placed in reserve status, then became a training platform in 1948. Between 1950 and 1957, she participated in an extensive and evolving overhaul program aimed at modernizing the vessel to support modern jet-powered aircraft and rotor systems. Key to the change was the installation of a sloping flight deck to allow for greater clearance to the turret superstructure and to launch a third aircraft simultaneously along with the original two nose positions. This work increased her displacement to 35,500 tons, length to 753 feet, beam to 103 feet, and draft to 31 feet, and over time, as she took on more modern fighters and attack aircraft (which Also limited her air wing a), her air force also changed. The original 50 to 30 units or less).

Their original boilers have been replaced with newer, more efficient 6 x Foster Wheeler branded types. 12 x 3" anti-aircraft guns and 6 x 40 mm Bofors guns enhanced her anti-aircraft capabilities. She received a more advanced radar system to expand her capabilities. Now complete, she returned to service in January 1958. [/p ]

From there, Victory remained active, first in the Middle East for a while, then moving to the Far East and eventually serving in the Far Eastern Fleet. She barely made a living in the Royal Navy until 1968, as Britain's military budget and political mishaps tried to end her expensive tenure.

As a result, HMS Victorious was officially decommissioned in 1969 and scrapped shortly after. This ended the Royal Navy's tenure on one of the most famous aircraft carriers of World War II.