HMAS Melbourne (R21)
_and_USS_Midway_(CV-41)_underway_on_16_May_1981_(6380752).jpg) HMAS Melbourne (R21), in keel line the USS Midway (CV-41) |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Keel laying | April 15, 1943 |
| Launch | February 28, 1945 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| period of service |
October 28, 1955 - |
| Whereabouts | Scrapped |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
15,740 ts (empty) |
| length |
213.8 m |
| width |
24.4 m (waterline) |
| Draft |
7.7 m |
| crew |
approx. 1,300 |
| drive |
Steam turbines with 42,000 shaft horsepower, two shafts |
| speed |
24 knots (44+ km / h) |
| motto |
"Vires Acquirit Eundo" |
The HMAS Melbourne (R21) , originally HMS Majestic (R77) , was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy . She was built in Great Britain as the lead ship of the Majestic class , a sub-class of the Colossus class , for the Royal Navy from 1943 , but construction was interrupted at the end of the war. It was not until 1955 that the Melbourne was put into service with the Australian Navy, where it remained in service until 1982. The aircraft carrier was the second ship to be named after the city of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria . Two collisions of the aircraft carrier with other ships sank an Australian and an American destroyer and killed a total of 156 sailors.
technology
Hull and drive
The hull of the Melbourne was 192 meters long and 14.4 meters wide at the waterline, the draft was 7.7 meters, the empty displacement was 15,740 ts , full about 20,000 standard tons . The flight deck was 210 meters long, its maximum width was about 34 meters, which resulted in a deck area of about 7,000 square meters. The island sat on the starboard side in the middle of the ship's length, it housed the navigation bridge , the chimney system and the radar systems.
The drive consisted of two Parsons geared turbines, which delivered their power of 42,000 hp to two shafts with one screw each. The steam for the propulsion was generated by four Admiralty three-drum steam boilers. The maximum speed of the carrier was 24.5 knots , the range was at a speed of 14 knots at 12,000 nautical miles .
Armament, electronics and air group
The original anti- aircraft armament consisted of 25 40-mm Bofors guns when it was commissioned , but this was reduced due to the further development of the aircraft in the course of the service life and later completely abolished.
The air surveillance was carried out by an LW-02 radar with integrated friend-foe detection , a Type 293 was used as the surface search radar , the navigation radar was the Type 978 radar. As approach radar was SPN-35 used.
When commissioned, the Carrier Air Wing consisted of eight De Havilland Sea Venom , 16 Fairey Gannet and two Bristol Sycamore , the aircraft were replaced in 1967 by eight new A-4 Skyhawk and six S-2 trackers ; Westland Wessex , later Sikorsky Sea Kings, were used as anti-submarine helicopters .
history
Construction and commissioning
The Majestic's keel was laid on April 15, 1943 at Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness in northern England. After the christening by the wife of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer John Anderson , Lady Anderson, on February 28, 1945, the aircraft carrier was launched. However, the end of World War II ended all work on completing the ship. In 1946, work was resumed, and at the same time, the first improvements that had resulted from war experience were incorporated into the design of the carrier. In 1947 the government decided to hand over two unfinished Majestic-class carriers, the Majestic and the HMS Terrible , to the Royal Australian Navy , which they referred to as Melbourne and Sydney .
After the Sydney was put into service with the RAN in 1948, work on the Melbourne was resumed in 1949 . In order to offer enough space for the new, growing aircraft, the flight deck was enlarged, and in 1952 the runway was angled 5.5 degrees from the ship's axis. A mirror-based landing aid and a steam catapult were also installed.
On October 28, 1955, the Melbourne was officially baptized in her new name by the wife of the Australian High Commissioner White and put into service for the Australian Navy. After a few test drives in the English Channel, she took her aircraft on board and set out for Australia on March 11, 1956.
period of service
1956-1964
_1956_(AWM_301019).jpg)
After a month and a half of voyage through the Mediterranean Sea , the Suez Canal and crossing the Indian Ocean , the Melbourne arrived in Fremantle on April 23 . The maiden voyage took the carrier via Melbourne to Sydney , where it arrived on May 9th. There she replaced her sister ship Sydney as the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy. After further exercises off the coast, the first deployment as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve in Southeast Asian waters followed in August 1956, together with ships from other SEATO member states. During the Summer Olympics in 1956 , the Melbourne was in the port of the city that gave it its name, several of its crew members helped out during the games as security forces in the competition venues, and radio operators and paramedics on the ship also supported the organizers.
In 1957, after a joint exercise with ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy, a visit to Wellington and Auckland followed , in March the aircraft carrier set out for a five-month voyage around the continent and to visit neighboring countries. in the following years the Melbourne took part in various exercises with the Royal Navy and the United States Navy . In 1962, the Australian Navy acquired 27 Westland-Wessex subway fighter helicopters with the intention of converting the Melbourne into a submarine fighter helicopter carrier. This decision was later revoked and the carrier continued to be used in the previous configuration.
1964-1970
On the evening of February 10, 1964, there was a serious accident off Jervis Bay . During a night flight exercise, the destroyer HMAS Voyager , which was starboard in front of the carrier, was ordered to the “plane guard” position aft . However, the commander of the destroyer did not turn to starboard as usual to get in a loop behind the Melbourne , but rather crossed to port in front of the bow of the aircraft carrier . This rammed the Voyager and cut it amidships in two. The bow section of the destroyer sank within minutes and 82 Australian sailors lost their lives. The aircraft carrier's bow was badly damaged and had to be repaired in Sydney. In June 1964, the Melbourne was able to resume service.
In 1965 it was decided to replace the outdated on-board aircraft with eight new A-4 Skyhawk and six S-2 trackers . The cost of the acquisitions was $ 46 million. The aircraft were taken on board during a stay on the US west coast in September 1967. Previously, the Melbourne had escorted her sister ship Sydney , which had meanwhile been converted into a fast troop transport, to Vietnam in June 1965 and May 1966 .
_post_collision.jpg)
In order to be able to accommodate the new aircraft, the aircraft carrier was completely overhauled and modernized in the dry dock in Garden Island between December 1967 and February 1969 and received new communication and radar systems. On February 14, 1969, the porter resumed service and again set out for the Western Pacific in May. On the morning of June 3, 1969, the Melbourne collided off the coast of Luzon with the American destroyer USS Frank E. Evans , which, like the Voyager , had crossed the bow of the aircraft carrier five years earlier, and cut it in two. The bow of the destroyer sank within minutes and 74 American sailors lost their lives. The bow of the Melbourne was badly damaged again, followed by extensive repairs in the dock in Sydney.
1970-1982
After a stay in the Far East in the summer of 1970, the carrier went to dock again in December, during the following months the flight deck was reinforced and the catapult renewed and modernized. In August 1971 the stay at the shipyard was over and the Melbourne left Sydney to take part in a multinational exercise off Hawaii . In January 1972, the carrier left with four escort ships in order to take part in several exercises on a tour of the Pacific and to visit various ports. Until January 1973 she took part in various exercises again, followed by another short stay in the shipyard until July 1973. In August and September, the Melbourne , together with the Stuart and Brisbane , took part in the " RIMPAC -73" exercise off Hawaii part. In 1974 she moved exhibits for the Admiral Nimitz War Museum to Los Angeles . Before returning home, she visited San Francisco , where some CH-47 helicopters were taken on board that were destined for the Army. In the fall, he took part in the "KANGAROO-ONE" exercise, in which the army, air force and navy as well as several allied states took part.
After Darwin was badly devastated by Cyclone Tracy on December 25, 1974 , the Melbourne ran out with other ships to provide humanitarian aid. The mission lasted until January 1975. She remained in Australian waters until mid-1976, followed by the "KANGAROO II" exercise in October 1976. Until the "RIMPAC-77" exercise off Hawaii in February 1977, the Melbourne stayed in port for most of the time. In May she ran together with the destroyer Brisbane to England, where she took part in the Spithead Naval Review in honor of the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's throne . In July 1977, the Melbourne took part in a NATO exercise for the only time before returning to Australia. After returning in October, the aircraft carrier went into dock until January 1978. After participating in the "RIMPAC-78" exercise, the porter returned to the dock for eleven months in May. In the autumn of 1979, three multinational exercises followed in the sea area around Australia. Melbourne's last participation in a “RIMPAC” exercise took place in February 1980, and in 1981 two more exercises followed in home waters.
Decommissioning
In February 1982 the Australian government decided to buy the light British carrier HMS Invincible to replace the aging Melbourne . The Melbourne was from then on until it was decommissioned on June 30, 1982 in Sydney Harbor. When the Falklands War broke out, the British government withdrew its decision to sell, and the Australian Labor Party stood up for the election with a promise not to approve any funds for new aircraft carriers. As a result, the Royal Australian Navy received no successor for its carrier. In June 1984, the former Melbourne was sold for $ 1.7 million to an Australian entrepreneur for scrapping, but the deal fell through. In February 1985, she was sold for 1.4 million dollars to China United Shipbuilding Co Ltd , which demolished and scrapped the former flagship in Dalian with keen interest from the Chinese Navy .
Web links
- HMAS Melbourne on the RAN homepage
- History, facts and figures about the Melbourne (Engl.)
- Pictures of the Melbourne at maritimequest.com (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Voyager History , as of June 3, 2007
- ↑ a b HMAS Melbourne ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. As of June 1, 2007
- ↑ Naval Vessel Register ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. As of June 3, 2007
