From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Royal Navy aircraft carrier class
HMS
Eagle
|
Class overview
|
Name
| Audacious
class
|
Operators
|
Royal Navy
|
Preceded by
| Implacable
class
|
Succeeded by
| |
Planned
| 4
|
Completed
| 2
|
Cancelled
| 2
|
Retired
| 2
|
General characteristics
|
Type
| Aircraft carrier
|
Displacement
| 36,800 tons (as built)
|
Length
| 804 ft (245 m)
|
Beam
|
- Ark Royal
- 112 ft (34 m) (as built)
- Eagle
- 135 ft (41 m)
|
Draught
| 33 ft (10 m)
|
Propulsion
|
- 8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers in 4 boiler rooms
- 4 sets of Parsons geared turbines, 4 shafts
- Power: 152,000 shp (113,000 kW)
|
Speed
|
- Eagle
- 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
- Ark Royal
- 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph)
|
Range
|
- Eagle
- 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
- Ark Royal
- 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
- 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph)
|
Armament
|
- Eagle
(As built:)
- Post-1964 re-fit:
- Ark Royal
(As built:)
- 1969 refit: none
|
Armour
|
- Eagle
- Waterline belt: 4 in (100 mm)
- Armoured flight deck: 1?4 in (25?102 mm)
- Hangar side: 1 in (25 mm)
- Hangar deck: 1 in (25 mm)
|
Aircraft carried
|
- Eagle
(As built:)
- 60
- Post-1964: 45
- Ark Royal
(As built:)
- 50
- 38 after 1967-1970 refit
|
The
Audacious
-class aircraft carriers
were a class of
aircraft carriers
proposed by the
British government
in the 1930s - 1940s and completed after the
Second World War
. The two ships built were heavily modified and diverged over their service lives. They were in operation from 1951 until 1979.
History
[
edit
]
The
Audacious
class was originally designed as an expansion of the
Implacable
class
with double storied hangars. However, it was realised that the hangar height would not be sufficient for the new aircraft that were expected to enter service, so the design was considerably enlarged.
[1]
Four ships were laid down between 1942 and 1943 during
World War II
as part of the British naval buildup -
Africa
,
Irresistible
,
Audacious
and
Eagle
. At the end of hostilities
Africa
and
Eagle
were cancelled. Work on the remaining two was suspended. They would be renamed and built to differing designs in the 1950s.
As the builds of
Audacious
(renamed
Eagle
) and
Irresistible
(renamed
Ark Royal
) progressed they differed so much that they effectively became the lead (and sole) ships of each of their own classes. They formed the backbone of the postwar carrier fleet, and were much modified.
Ships in class
[
edit
]
Name
|
Pennant Number
|
Builder
|
Laid Down
|
Launched
|
Commissioned
|
Fate
|
HMS
Eagle
(
Ex
Audacious
)
|
R05
|
Harland and Wolff
,
Belfast
|
|
19 March, 1946
|
5 October, 1951
|
Decommissioned 26 January, 1972.
|
HMS
Ark Royal
(
Ex
Irresistible
)
|
R09
|
Cammell Laird
,
Birkenhead
|
- 3 May, 1943 as HMS
Irresistible
- Later renamed after the third
Ark Royal
that was lost in 1941.
|
3 May, 1950
|
22 February, 1955
|
Decommissioned 14 February, 1979.
|
HMS
Eagle
|
N/A
|
|
19 April, 1944
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Cancelled January 1946 when 23% complete.
|
HMS
Africa
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Cancelled 15 October, 1945.
|
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Ireland, Bernard
.
The Illustrated Guide to Aircraft Carriers of the World
. Hermes House, London, 2005.
ISBN
1-84477-747-2
- Johnstone-Bryden, Richard.
Britain's Greatest Warship: HMS "Ark Royal IV"
. Sutton Publishing Ltd., Stroud, 2000.
ISBN
0-7509-2504-3
External links
[
edit
]