HMS Hermes (R12)

History of HMS Hermes (R12)

His ship was laid by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness as HMS Elephant during World War II. Construction was suspended in 1945, but work to clear the slipway resumed in 1952, and the hull was launched on 16 February 1953.

The ship remained unfinished until 1957, when she entered service as HMS Hermes on 18 November 1959, with extensive modifications including the installation of a large Type 984 searchlight 3D radar, a full angle deck with deck edge lifts and steam catapults. With these changes, she resembles the rebuilt aircraft carrier Victory more than the other three ships in her class.

Hermes initially operated Supermarine Scimitar, de Havilland Sea Vixen and Fairey Gannet fixed-wing aircraft with Westland Whirlwind helicopters.

In 1959, Hermes cost ?18m to build, with another ?1m for electronics and another ?10m for aircraft.

Specification

BASIC

Years in Service

1959

Origins

UK

supplement

2,100

staff

Class information

Class

Centaur

Class Size

4

ships

Class

HMS Centaurus (R06); HMS Albion (R07); HMS Fortress (R08); HMS Hermes (R12); HMS Monmouth (Canceled); HMS Polyphemus (Canceled); HMS Pride (Canceled); HMS Elephant (renamed as HMS Hermes R12)

Operator

UK;India (INS Viraat R22)

Roles

Flagships/Capital Ships

Take on the role of fleet flagship or capital ship in old battleship design/terminology.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

775.0 feet

236.22m

Ray

148. 0 feet

45.11m

Draft

27.8 feet

8.47m

Shift

25,350 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

2 x 76,000 shp Parson steam turbines.

Surface Velocity

28. 0 nodes

(32.2 km/h)

Area

6,995nm

(8,050 miles | 12,955 kilometers)

Armor

Complete: 10 x 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns Modified in 1970: 2 x Sea Cat short-range surface-to-air missile launchers.

Aircraft

28 x fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft; including BAe Sea Harrier (28) or de Havilland Sea Vixen (12) VTOL fighters, Blackburn Buccaneer (7) and Fairey Gannet aircraft (5) and Westland Wessex helicopters (6).