Mr. Ms. Karel Doorman (R81)
Karel Doorman 1960
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The aircraft carrier Mr. Ms. Karel Doorman served in the Dutch Navy from 1948 to 1968 . He became famous for his trip to New Guinea in 1960, when he was supposed to emphasize the intention of the Netherlands to defend the possession of Dutch New Guinea . The trip is considered one of the few examples of Dutch gunboat politics . After a fire in the machinery in 1968, the carrier was separated because the repair costs were too high for the planned service time.
The aircraft carrier, completed in 1945 as the British HMS Venerable (R63) , took part in the re-occupation of the Hong Kong Crown Colony in the summer of 1945 . Until the beginning of 1947, the carrier was primarily used as a transport in the Far East.
The carrier, acquired by Argentina in 1968 and then repaired in the Netherlands, was used as ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) in the 1982 Falklands War against the Royal Navy.
history
The aircraft carrier was one of ten Colossus-class light carriers that were built at British shipyards between 1942 and 1946.
The easy-to-build girders with a standard displacement of 13,200 ts had a maximum speed of 25 kn and could use up to 37 aircraft. The anti-aircraft armament consisted of six 40 mm L / 39 “pompom” quadruplets , eleven 20 mm L / 70 Oerlikon twin guns and ten Oerlikon single guns. All ships had radar and sonar .
Construction and commissioning
The aircraft carrier was laid down on December 3, 1942 as HMS Venerable (R63) at Cammell, Laird & Company in Birkenhead and was launched on December 30, 1943. On January 17, 1945, it entered service with the Royal Navy as the third carrier of the new class.
The carrier became the flagship of the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron on March 1, 1945 , which included three sister ships ( Colossus , Glory , Vengeance ). The Venerable moved to Sydney via Malta and Ceylon until July 22, 1945 . There, the 20 mm Oerlikons were replaced by 40 mm "Boffins" . On August 15, the carrier was assigned to the British TF 112 , which was to occupy the British crown colony of Hong Kong . In Subic Bay , she met with the other units of the task force, which then entered Hong Kong on August 30th.
From October 1945 the Venerable was used as a transporter. First she transported liberated Indian prisoners of war from Haiphong to Madras . Troop transports to and from British bases followed, and in December 1945 the evacuation of 725 liberated Dutch civilian internees (including 570 women and children) from Jakarta to Sydney. The Venerable remained in service as a transporter until October 1946 . She was then re-equipped as a porter in Singapore and served in this capacity on the Far East Station . On February 14, 1947, the porter started his journey home. Upon arrival in Plymouth on March 26, the carrier was decommissioned and assigned to the reserve.
In service with the Royal Navy of the Netherlands
On April 1, 1948, the Venerable was sold to the Dutch Navy . This named the ship put into service on May 28, 1948 after Rear Admiral Karel Doorman , who died on February 27, 1942 during the battle in the Java Sea . It was named after the first Dutch aircraft carrier in March 1946, the former British escort carrier Nairana , which was on loan for two years . Doorman was one of the first naval officers to hold a pilot's license and also had special services in building up the Dutch naval aviation, whose main area of operation before the Second World War was the Dutch East Indies .
When the new carrier took over, the Indonesian War of Independence was not yet over. It was not until December 27, 1949 that Queen Juliana signed the transfer of sovereignty in Amsterdam . Unlike its predecessor, the new Karel Doorman was not sent to the Dutch colonial empire in South-East Asia after its takeover. The carrier was used in NATO anti-submarine groups in the North Atlantic. One of his first major visits to the Netherlands Antilles took place from January 2 to May 4, 1950. A fellow traveler on the Karel Doorman was the husband of the Dutch Queen, Prince Bernhard . The carrier was accompanied by the light cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck (3665 ts, 1941–1951) and the frigate Johan Maurits van Nassau (ex HMS Ribble , 1493 ts, 1943–1959). The Karel Doorman's first aircraft force consisted of Sea Fury fighter bombers and Firefly scouts . From 1953 the latter were replaced by Avenger 3S2 ("Killer") and 3W2 ("Hunter") submarine fighters . All three types were not only used as board aircraft, but also land-based in their homeland, the Netherlands Antilles and in Dutch New Guinea .
In 1952 the porter visited Scandinavian ports for the first time. In 1954 the Karel Doorman practiced in the spring with accompanying destroyers in the Mediterranean and after a normal exercise in the North Atlantic and visiting some US ports, she then visited Montreal , where an air show was taking place. In 1955 visits were made to Mediterranean ports as well as Scandinavia.
From 1955 to 1958 the Karel Doorman underwent an extensive overhaul in the Netherlands in order to be able to use jet-powered aircraft in the future. The carrier received an 8 ° angled deck, new elevators, a new island, new 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, a steam catapult, new workshop rooms and new sensors mostly made in the Netherlands. A total renovation was carried out above the drive system.
In the summer of 1958, the heavily revised carrier came back into service and now, in addition to Avengers, also used Sea Hawk FG.50 fighter-bombers , 22 of which were delivered between July 1957 and January 1958, and from January five HSS-1N Seabat anti- submarine helicopters a. The British jet planes and the American helicopters came to the Netherlands as deliveries under the Mutual Defense Assistance Act , as did the Avenger machines before . Equipment procured under this law was paid for by the US. As part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP), 26 twin-engine tracker anti-submarine aircraft followed in March 1960 as a replacement for the outdated Avenger .
After the first test drives in 1958, the carrier was used on the North Atlantic in 1959 and visited the US east coast and in September also Hamburg.
Trip to New Guinea
After the Indonesian War of Independence, the Netherlands still had the western part of the island of New Guinea in Asia . However, Indonesia also had claims to the area, and when Indonesia rearmed towards the end of the 1950s, the Dutch government suspected that this was intended to directly or indirectly promote the annexation of New Guinea. To deter the Indonesian government, the Netherlands planned to send the carrier to Southeast Asia and joint maneuvers with the Australian fleet, including a temporary exchange of squadrons with the carrier Melbourne . The USA had not agreed with the efforts of the Netherlands to maintain their colonial property in Southeast Asia since 1945 and tried various measures to prevent the plans with the porter. With reference to the procurement of the carrier's aircraft, they accused the Netherlands of illegally using the carrier during an operation outside of NATO. The Dutch government nevertheless decided to send the carrier to Southeast Asia. The Karel Doorman left the Netherlands on May 30, 1960
together with the destroyers Groningen and Limburg and the civilian tanker Mijdrecht , which had received facilities for refueling on the high seas . The association did not run through the Mediterranean, as they did not want to provoke Egypt, allied with Indonesia, but via Las Palmas and Mauritius - or the destroyers via Lourenço Marques - to Australia. When the Dutch association reached Fremantle on July 11th, dock workers refused to give tug assistance to the ships. The carrier succeeded in giving itself the necessary maneuvering support through aircraft with running engines attached to the flight deck. After the visit ended harmoniously, the Dutch association marched around South Australia until August 2nd to Hollandia, today Jayapura , in Dutch New Guinea (NNG). The carrier's machines (ten Sea Hawks from Season 860 , eight Avengers from Season 2 and the two Sikorsky S-55 rescue helicopters) carried out an air parade. On 6 the association then transferred to Biak where brought goods were unloaded for the Dutch troops in the colony, including twelve semi knocked-down Hunter -Jagdflugzeuge and two Alouette III helicopters. Then the association took part in the surveillance of the sea area around the colony and operated with the station ships Piet Hein and Kortenaer , now classified as frigates of the British S-class destroyers . The Limburg had a violent aground and needed during these exercises Hong Kong start because the necessary repair was not carried out professionally in the Dutch colony. As planned in advance, the three remaining ships of the Karel Doorman Association left the colony on September 1, 1960 to march to Yokohama , where they were to take part in an event marking the 350th anniversary of the establishment of trade relations between Japan and the Netherlands. Only during the approach did the Japanese unload the Dutch warships again, so that the porter with the Groningen started the way back to NNG on the 4th. They also visited Sorong and Manokwari . The tanker Mijdrecht (with its small military part on board), however, called at Kobe and took over a prepared fuel load and other goods for the association.
The aircraft carrier was chosen as a main target by the Indonesian military when, as part of the "Operation Trikora" to conquer the Dutch colony, the plan was drawn up to attack the carrier with Tu-16 bombers and KS-1 cruise missiles . Due to the ceasefire and the UN administration of the area, the plan was dropped again.
In 1960 the Karel Doorman Association gathered again in front of Noumea , which was the first port of call on the return voyage on September 21. It was followed by the Karel Doorman and the tanker Sydney , while the two destroyers called Auckland . On the following Pacific crossing, the Dutch ships still called the Juan Fernández Islands before arriving in Valparaíso on November 11th . After five days it went on via Punta Arenas (20th) to Rio de Janeiro (December 28th to 3rd). On December 20, 1960, the association returned to the Netherlands. During the trip a Sea Hawk , the pilot of which could be rescued, was lost and an Avenger was lost.
1961 ended the use of the Avenger by Karel Doormann that as of March 1962, the twin-engine Grumman S-2A Tracker was used -U-Jadflugzeugen. From 1964 the carrier did not take any more Sea Hawk fighters on board. The group of pilots then consisted mostly of eight trackers and six Seabat helicopters, of which the "Marineluchtvaartdienst" received twelve between 1960 and 1963. Four were converted into transport / rescue helicopters. Six of the S-58 helicopters were lost between 1961 and 1968.
A fire in the carrier's boiler room on April 26, 1968 caused considerable damage. The costs for a restoration seemed too high for those responsible for the planned short service time of the carrier, which should be separated according to the plans of the Dutch Navy and NATO in 1970. Part of their tasks were to be taken over by modern anti-submarine frigates and long-range long-range anti-submarine aircraft. The damaged boiler and drive parts were to be taken from the unfinished half-sister Leviathan . Ultimately, the repair work was canceled and a buyer for the carrier was found in Argentina.
For Argentina in the Falklands War
The Karel Doorman was sold to Argentina in 1968 after a fire for 9.5 million guilders , where it was named ARA Veinticinco de Mayo ("May 25") (V-2) (ARA: Armada de la República Argentina , Naval Forces of the Republic of Argentina ) was put into service. She was the second carrier of the Argentine Navy, which had already had a sister ship in service with the Independencia (ex Warrior ) since 1959 , but this was separated in 1970. When the purchased Veinticinco de Mayo left the Netherlands for Argentina in September 1969 , Hawker Siddeley demonstrated the possibilities of the Harrier GR.1 on the carrier with a view to a possible sale of the type to the Argentine Navy.
Veinticinco de Mayo was to use an aircraft group of 24 machines. Initially, F9F Panther and F9F Cougar fighter-bombers were available, which were replaced by more modern A-4Q Skyhawks . In addition, Grumman S-2 Tracker propeller machines and Sikorsky Sea King helicopters came on board to fight submarines .
Veinticinco de Mayo took part in the Falklands War in 1982 , but was withdrawn to the port after a few days due to unfavorable weather conditions for flight operations and the constant threat from British submarines. Your flight squadrons, however, operated from Rio Grande on Tierra del Fuego and were involved in the sinking of several British ships.
Planes
The Venerable received 24 Chance Vought F4U Corsair IV and 18 Fairey Barracuda II of the squadrons 1851 and 814 respectively . From mid-1945 the strength of the squadrons was reduced to 12 machines each. The Season 814 Barracuda s were replaced by Firefly FR 1 in December 1945 . The 1851 squadron with its Corsair s was replaced by the 802 squadron with 12 Seafire F.XV's in June 1946 .
Initially, aircraft of the types Fairey Firefly FR.4 / NF.5 and Hawker Sea Fury FB.50 / 51/60 were stationed on the Karel Doorman , as well as a flying boat of the type Supermarine Sea Otter ASR II for sea rescue . The flying boat was exchanged for a Sikorsky S-51 helicopter in 1952 , which belonged to Season 8 in Valkenburg . In the fall of 1953, Naval Aviation (Marine Luchtvaartdienst MLD) received three HO4S-3 helicopters from the US Navy. Also in autumn 1953 25 Grumman TBM-3W Avengers for submarine search and from January 1954 to May 1955 a further 34 Avenger TBM-3S2s as attack machines against submarines. The two variants were used side by side. In 1958, naval aviation again received 20 Avengers for reconnaissance tasks that were not used on the carrier. From 1959 to 1964 the Avengers were eliminated.
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Also under the MDAP were from July 18, 1957 to January 29, 1958 22 Hawker Sea Hawk FG.50. These jet-powered fighter-bombers were used alternately by Squadrons 860 and 3 from the Karel Doorman . Four machines were lost between 1957 and 1962 while in service. In 1963 six machines were used as spare parts dispensers and then all machines were retired by October 1964.
In January 1960, the MLD received five Sikorsky SH-34J under the MDAP. From September 1961 to June 1963, seven more Sikorsky S-58 variants came to the MLD. Six of the twelve helicopters were gradually converted to the UH-34J transport / sea rescue variant. Six machines were lost between 1961 and 1968. The last machines were returned in April 1972.
In 1961, the Avenger and Sea Hawk were replaced by more modern Grumman S-2 Tracker anti -submarine aircraft . From March 1960 to March 1962 28 machines of this type were delivered to the MLD and then alternately used by the 320 and 4 squadrons on the Karel Doorman . Normally eight of these twin-engine machines were on board with six S-58 helicopters. This composition of the aircraft group remained until the carrier was decommissioned by the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1968. 18 of the trackers were modernized and the last machine was passed on to Turkey in 1976. In addition, there were 17 CS2F-1 trackers built in Canada in the service of MLD in 1960/61 , all of which were deployed on land in Curacao and were eliminated by 1970.
literature
- Duco Hellema: De Karel Doorman naar Nieuw-Guinea. (Nederlands machtsvertoon in de Oost). Boom, Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-8506-182-2 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Beaver: Encyclopedia of the Fleet Air Arm since 1945 . Patrick Stephens, Wellingborough, Northants 1987, ISBN 0-85059-760-9 .
- ^ Image of the Mijdrecht in New Guinea
- ↑ Vlootbezoek aan Fremantle 1960 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
