.jpg) Hermes with her final air wing prior to converting to the Commando/ASW carrier role | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Hermes |
| Namesake | Hermes |
| Builder | Vickers-Armstrong |
| Laid down | 21 June 1944 |
| Launched | 16 February 1953 |
| Commissioned | 25 November 1959 |
| Decommissioned | 1984 |
| Stricken | 1985 |
| Homeport | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Identification | Pennant number: 61 (1945) R12 (1951) R22 (asViraat) |
| Fate | Sold to India, 1986, and renamedViraat, scrapped 2021 |
 India | |
| Name | Viraat |
| Acquired | May 1987 |
| Decommissioned | 6 March 2017[1] |
| Identification | Pennant number: R22 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Centaur-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam |
|
| Draught | 8.50 m (27 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 28knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement | 2,100 |
| Sensors and processing systems | MRS-3fire-control system |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried |
|
_1962.jpg)
HMSHermes was a conventional Britishlight aircraft carrier and the last of theCentaur class.
Hermes was in service with theRoyal Navy from 1959 until 1984, and she served as the flagship of the British forces during the 1982Falklands War.
After being sold toIndia in 1986, the vessel was recommissioned and remained in service with theIndian Navy asINS Viraat until 2017.
The ship was laid down byVickers-Armstrong atBarrow-in-Furness duringWorld War II as HMSElephant. Construction was suspended in 1945 but work was resumed in 1952 to clear theslipway and thehull was launched on 16 February 1953. The vessel remained unfinished until 1957; then she entered service on 18 November 1959 as HMSHermes after extensive modifications which included installation of a massiveType 984 'searchlight'3D radar, a fully angled deck with a deck-edge lift, and steam catapults. With these changes she more resembled the reconstructed aircraft carrierVictorious than the other three ships in the class.
Hermes initially operatedSupermarine Scimitar,de Havilland Sea Vixen, andFairey Gannet fixed-wing aircraft, together withWestland Whirlwind helicopters.
The construction cost ofHermes was £18 million,[2] with a further £1 million for electronic equipment[2] and a further £10 million for aircraft in 1959.[2]
On 16 November 1962,Hermes was cruising off of thePembrokeshire coast in Wales when one of her helicopters carrying twoMembers of Parliament,Lord Windlesham and the MP forLoughborough,John Cronin, back from the carrier, which they had been visiting, toRNAS Brawdy, crashed offSt David's Head. While Cronin and the helicopter's two-man crew were saved by another helicopter fromHermes, Lord Windlesham and an RAF officer being carried as a passenger were killed.[3][4]
During theCuban Missile Crisis in 1962, theSea Vixen FAW1s ofHermes were tasked to bomb targets in theSoviet Union with theRed Beard nuclear bombs. An observer of the Sea Vixen squadron described his experience as follows:“We used to do ground attack, and we had a nuclear capability. During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, I was in our squadron’s nuclear team. We were on red alert for three days, not practice, but for real. I was sweating because my target wasSevastopol in theCrimea."[5]
_in_1963.jpg)
John Hay,Civil Lord of the Admiralty, said in Parliament on 2 March 1964 that "Phantoms will be operated from "Hermes", "Eagle" and the new carrier when it is built. ... Our present information and advice is that the aircraft should be able to operate from "Hermes" after she has undergone her refit."[6]This seemed optimistic, as most sources believedVictorious was the smallest carrier then in commission that themodified RN F-4K versions of the Phantom could realistically have operated from. The BritishRolls-Royce Spey engines replacing the USGeneral Electric J79 were a political necessity given the cancellation of the supersonic BritishHawker Siddeley P.1154 V/STOL aircraft project. The projected superior fuel efficiency using the Spey engines was overshadowed by larger engine size and inflexibility. From the smallerHermes maximum weight at takeoff would be 25 tons rather than 28 tons when operating offEagle.[7] Since this lower weight at launch fromHermes would be achieved by carrying less fuel,combat air patrol duration would be 25 to 50 percent less than fromEagle; from 2–2.5 hours to 1–1.5 hrs,[8] and only partly compensated by refuelling when airborne. It was optimistically believedHermes could replace its Vixens with Spey-powered Phantoms on a one-to-one basis,[9] i.e. 11–12 with 7–8Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft. While the Phantoms built for the RN were modified in ways similar toVought F-8 Crusaders for theFrench Navy – improving deceleration on landing – the modifications were not entirely successful.Hermes's flight deck was too short, her arresting gear as well as her catapults were not powerful enough to recover or launch the F-4Ks, even though they were slightly lighter, more economical and higher performing than theirUS Navy counterparts[citation needed]. The Phantom trials held onHermes in 1969–1970 proved this, though in the views of the then Minister of Defence,Denis Healey, the carrier could operate the most modern aircraft, but in too small numbers to be effective. While it is clear thatMcNamara's claims that the F-4 was not safe for use on the USNEssex class, or 31,000-ton carriers, was rightly rejected by John Hay in 1964.[10]
A 1966 review indicated thatHermes was surplus to operational requirements and she was offered to theRoyal Australian Navy (RAN) as a replacement forHMASMelbourne. In 1968,Hermes took part in a combined exercise with the RAN, during which the carrier was visited by senior RAN officers and Australian government officials, while RANDouglas A-4G Skyhawks andGrumman S-2 Trackers practised landings on the larger carrier.[11] The offer was turned down due to operating and manpower costs.
Hermes served as one of four Royal Navy strike carriers mainly in theIndian Ocean and finally in theMediterranean Sea until decommissioned in 1970. She could have seen action against the Egyptians when Egypt closed off theStraits of Tiran to Israeli shipping in May 1967 when the UK and US contemplated forming an international fleet to open the straits with force if necessary,[12] but the UK backed down. According to a memorandum of conversation dated 25 May 1967 between the US Secretaty of State Dean Rusk and the British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs George Thomson, 'The British felt that a carrier [Hermes] in the Red Sea would be a sitting duck if Nasser got nasty.'[13]
| Squadron | Aircraft type | Number of aircraft | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 801 NAS | Blackburn Buccaneer S.2 | 7 | Strike |
| 893 NAS | de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 | 12 | Fleet air defence |
| 849A NAS | Fairey Gannet AEW.3 | 4 | Airborne early warning |
| Fairey Gannet COD.4 | 1 | Carrier on-board delivery | |
| 814 NAS | Westland Wessex HAS.3 | 5 | Anti-submarine warfare |
| Ships Flight | Westland Wessex HAS.1 | 1 | Air-sea rescue & Utility |
_underway_on_16_March_1982_(6350754).jpg)
When the decision was made in the mid-1960s to phase out fixed wing carrier operationsHermes was slated to become a "Commando Carrier" forRoyal Marine operations (similar in concept to a US Navy LHA). Therefore,Hermes was docked down in number 10 Dock inDevonport Dockyard between 1971 and 1973, undergoing a conversion in which her arresting cables, steam catapults, and 3-D radar were removed.Landing craft and berthing for 800 troops were added and her airwing became approximately 20Westland Sea King helicopters. By 1976, with the Soviet submarine threat becoming apparent and throughNATO pressure, a further mild conversion was performed forHermes to become ananti-submarine warfare carrier to patrol the North Atlantic.Hermes underwent one more conversion and new capabilities were added when she was refitted at Portsmouth from 1980 to June 1981, during which a 12°ski-jump and facilities for operatingBAe Sea Harriers were incorporated.[15]
After this refit the air wing comprised:
Hermes was due to be decommissioned in 1982 after the1981 Defence Review (that would have made the Royal Navy considerably smaller) by the British government, but when theFalklands War broke out, she was made theflagship of the British forces, setting sail for theSouth Atlantic just three days after theArgentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. She sailed for the Falklands with an airgroup of 12 Sea Harrier FRS1 attack aircraft of the Royal Navy'sFleet Air Arm, and 18 Sea King helicopters. A few weeks after sailing, more aircraft were flown or transported via other ships to replace some losses and augment the task force.Hermes's airgroup grew to 16 Sea Harriers, 10Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3s of theRoyal Air Force, and 10 Sea Kings (after some of the helicopters were dispersed to other ships) as well as a troop ofSpecial Air Service (SAS) andRoyal Marines. As she was the RN's largest carrier, she was considered too valuable to risk in close to the Falklands, due to the possibility of Argentine air force attacks. Her Harriers therefore operated at the limit of their endurance radius but were very successful in keeping the enemy aircraft at bay.
Air group at the height of the Falklands Conflict:
The aircraft carrier was carrying 16 nuclear depth bombs as part of her standard armament when she deployed for the Falklands, and wasone of several Royal Navy warships so equipped during the war. The weapons were removed while she was in the South Atlantic during June 1982.[16]
After her return home from the Falklands conflictHermes entered into a much needed 4-month refit to her propulsion and electrical systems, as well as a thorough cleaning and repainting. When this was completed in November 1982, she embarked stores and performed work-ups exercises. She then took part in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Sea as a commando carrier. In the autumn of 1983 she took part in her last exercise,Ocean Safari, where she reverted to a strike carrier role, embarking 12 Sea Harriers, 10 RAF Harrier GR.3s and 10 Sea Kings. After this exercise, she called into Devonport for a minor refit and thereafter into maintained reserve in Portsmouth.
In 1983, when the proposed sale of the aircraft carrierInvincible to theRoyal Australian Navy was cancelled following the Falklands War, an offer was made to sellHermes and a squadron of Sea Harriers to Australia. However the newHawke government decided against purchasing a replacement for HMASMelbourne.[17]
Hermes served with the Royal Navy until 12 April 1984. On this day she entered Portsmouth with a reduced crew, under her own steam, flying the White Ensign for the final time as a seagoing ship.
In April 1986Hermes was towed from Portsmouth Dockyard to Devonport Dockyard to be refitted, reactivated and sold toIndia, recommissioning and sailing asINSViraat in 1987.[18]
%2c_sailing_from_Devonport_Dockyard_to_begin_her_service_with_the_Indian_Navy.jpg)
The typical aircraft complement in the late 1960s consisted of 12 Sea Vixen FAW2s, 7 Buccaneer S2s, 4 Gannet AEW3s, 1 Gannet COD4, 5 Wessex HAS3s and 1 Wessex HAS1.Hermes was recommissioned as acommando carrier in 1973, as an ASW carrier in 1976 (carrying around 20 or so Sea King and Wessex helicopters), and then as aV/STOL carrier in 1981.Hermes initial complement of aircraft as a V/STOL carrier was five Harriers and 12 Sea King helicopters, though she had the capacity for up to a total of 37 aircraft.
Following her decommissioning from the Indian Navy in 2017, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to preserve Hermes as a museum piece.[19] The campaign aimed to raise £100,000, but was only able to raise £9,303 before being declared unsuccessful.[20]
On 1 November 2018 theMaharashtra cabinet approved the conversion ofViraat into India's first moored maritime museum and marine adventure centre. It would be located nearNivati,Sindhudurg district.[21][22] On 1 July 2019 the Indian Minister of State for Defence informed the Indian Parliament that a decision to scrap Viraat had been taken due to the non-receipt of any financially self-sustaining proposal.[23]
The ship is currently being scrapped in a ship breakers yard in Alang, India. As of December 2020, about five per cent of the ship was already gone. The distinctive take-off ramp used by the Harrier jump jets had been removed.[24] On 10 February 2021, theSupreme Court of India had ordered the dismantling be placed on hold, following a petition by a private firm to turn the ship into a museum,[25] but on 12 April 2021 it dismissed the petition saying it was too late since 40% of the ship had been dismantled.[26]
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 Indian Navy |
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