HMS Warrior (R31)

HMS "Warrior" (R31) was a "Colossus"-class light aircraft carrier which served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1946 to 1948, the Royal Navy from 1948 to 1958, and the Argentine Navy from 1959 to 1969.

History

Built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, she was originally to be called HMS "Brave"; the Royal Navy had originally intended to rush her into service for operations in the Indian Ocean during World War II, thus she was built without heaters for some onboard equipment since heat was unnecessary in tropical operations.

Royal Canadian Navy service

She was launched on 20 May 1944 and completed on 24 January 1946. She was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and commissioned as HMCS "Warrior". The RCN experienced problems with the unheated equipment during operations in cold North Atlantic waters off eastern Canada during 1947. The RCN deemed her unfit for service and made arrangements with the Royal Navy to trade her for a more suitable aircraft carrier of the "Majestic" class which became, warship|HMCS|Magnificent|CVL 21 on commissioning, rather than retrofit her with equipment heaters.

Royal Navy service

HMCS "Warrior" returned to the United Kingdom and was recommissioned as HMS "Warrior" (R31) on 23 March 1948. "Warrior" was then refitted in Devonport and equipped with a flexible flight deck (layers of rubber) to test the feasibility of receiving undercarriage-less aircraft; the Sea Vampire was used to test the concept, which was successful but not introduced into service.

She went into reserve in September 1949, and was recommissioned in June 1950 as a transport for troops and aircraft to support British forces during the Korean War. [ [http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/Korea_Coalition_Warfare.pdf Korea Coalition Warfare] ] The ship underwent refit during most of 1952 and 1953 at Devonport Dockyard, and after a brief return to service was again put in for refit on 14 December 1954. This time "Warrior" received a very slightly angled flight deck for trials. She took part in Operation "Grapple", the first British hydrogen bomb tests, embarking a handful of helicopters and Grumman Avenger AS.4s to collect samples from the tests and ferry them back for testing. After the operation was completed the Avengers were catapulted into the sea as they were contaminated with radioactivity. Considered surplus to requirements by the late 1950s, the Royal Navy decommissioned "Warrior" in February 1958 and offered her for sale. The return voyage from the "Grapple" tests was via Argentina, with port visits and demonstrations to the Argentine Navy, to whom the Admiralty was trying to sell her.

Argentina Navy service

She was sold to Argentina in 1958 and renamed ARA "Independencia "(V-1). Argentine Naval Aviation began air operations from "Independencia" in June 1959 even before the vessel was officially commissioned into the fleet.

F4U Corsair, SNJ-5Cs Texan and Grumman S2F-1 (S-2A) Trackers formed the air group in those years.

The Navy inventory also included F9F Panther and F9F Cougar jets but the "Independencia" was not suitable for operating them. They were embarked during their delivery voyage from the United States to Argentina.

After the carrier ARA "Veinticinco de Mayo" (V-2) entered service in 1969, "Independencia" passed to the reserve and was scrapped in 1971.

See also

* List of aircraft carriers

References

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/aircraft_carriers/hms_warrior_31.htm Maritimequest HMS Warrior photo gallery]
* [http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Armada%20Argentina/Portaaviones/Warrior1953.htm ARA Independencia] es icon
* [http://www.aircraft-carriers.webs.com My experience aboard the "HMCS Warrior" by Lieutenant Robert Grenier]