_aerial_c1959.jpeg) Victorious in 1959, after her refit | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Victorious |
| Ordered | 13 January 1937 |
| Builder | Vickers-Armstrong |
| Cost | £50 million |
| Laid down | 4 May 1937 |
| Launched | 14 September 1939 |
| Commissioned | 14 May 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 13 March 1968 |
| Refit | 1950–1957 |
| Identification | Pennant numbers: 38, R38, 38 |
| Motto | Per coelum et aequorem victrix (Through air and sea victorious) |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Scrapped, 1969 |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Illustrious-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement |
|
| Length |
|
| Beam |
|
| Draught |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts, 3 gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 30.5knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph) |
| Range | 11,000nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | |
| Armour |
|
| Aircraft carried | |
HMSVictorious was the thirdIllustrious-classaircraft carrier afterIllustrious andFormidable. Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at theVickers-Armstrong shipyard atNewcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in theBattle of the Atlantic.
Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleshipBismarck, severalArctic convoys, andOperation Pedestal. She was loaned to the United States Navy in 1943 and served in the south west Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. In 1944Victorious contributed to several attacks on theTirpitz. The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to theEastern Fleet atColombo and then to thePacific for the final actions of the war against Japan.
After the war, her service was broken by periods in reserve and, between 1950 and 1958, the most complete reconstruction of any Royal Navy carrier. This involved the construction of new superstructure above the hangar deck level, a new angled flight deck,[1] new boilers and the fitting ofType 984 radar and data links and heavy shipboard computers, able to track 50 targets and assess their priority for interrogation and interception. The reduction of Britain's naval commitment in 1967, the end of theIndonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and a fire while underrefit, prompted her final withdrawal from service, three to five years early, and she was scrapped in 1969.
Victorious was one of twoIllustrious-class aircraft carriers ordered fromVickers-Armstrong under the 1936 Construction Programme for the Royal Navy.[2][3][a][b] The cost of the new carriers was estimated to be£2,395,000 each.[6]Victorious waslaid down at Vickers' Walker Naval Yard,Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 4 May 1937 as Admiralty Job Number J4035 andYard number 11.[7] Construction was slowed by the unavailability of armour plate,[7] withVictoriouslaunched on 14 September 1939, with Augusta Inskip, wife ofThomas Inskip, theLord Chancellor, as sponsor.[8] The carrier was commissioned at the shipyard on 29 March 1941, leaving Walker forSea trials and passage toRosyth dockyard on 16 April 1941.[7]
The first task given to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier was to ferryHawker Hurricane fighters toMalta. 48 crated Hurricanes were loaded aboardVictorious at Rosyth on 14 May 1941, and on 15 May she sailed forScapa Flow to joinConvoy WS 8B to theMiddle East.[9][10] Following thesortie of theGerman battleship Bismarck and cruiserPrinz Eugen,Victorious, despite not being worked up and having an understrength air wing (consisting of the ninebiplaneFairey Swordfishtorpedo bombers of825 Naval Air Squadron and a flight ofFairey Fulmar fighters[10][11]), was ordered to take part in the hunt forBismarck andPrinz Eugen, sailing from Scapa Flow with the battleshipKing George V, the battlecruiserRepulse and 4light cruisers on the evening of 22 May.[12][13][14]
Late on 24 May 1941,Victorious launched nine of her Swordfishes, followed by three Fulmars to track the German battleship, with two more Fulmar later launched to relieve the first three Fulmars.[15] The Swordfish, under the command ofEugene Esmonde, flew through foul weather and attackedBismarck in the face of tremendous fire fromanti-aircraft guns, scoring a hit to the 320 mm armoured belt with a torpedo.[c][17] No aircraft were shot down during the attack, but two Fulmars ditched after they could not find the carrier in the dark because a rain squall had moved in and the carrier'shoming beacon had failed.[d][19]Victorious took no further part in the chase; aircraft fromArk Royal disabledBismarck's steering gear, thus contributing to her sinking three days later.[20] Esmonde received aDSO for his part in the action.[21]
On 31 May 1941,Victorious set out in another attempt to deliver the Hurricanes, sailing with troopconvoy WS 8X. On 4 June 1941 a Swordfish of 825 Squadron fromVictorious spotted the German supply shipGonzenheim north of theAzores.Gonzenheim had been intended to support theBismarck but was subsequentlyscuttled when approached by the battleshipNelson and cruiserNeptune.[22][23] On 5 June,Victorious was detached toGibraltar,[14] where the Hurricanes were uncrated byVictorious's crew,[10] with 20 Hurricanes transferred toArk Royal. The two carriers left Gibraltar on 13 June to carry outOperation Tracer to deliver the Hurricanes to Malta, with 47 aircraft being launched on 14 June from a position south of theBalearic Islands. 43 Hurricanes landed safely on Malta.[22][24]Victorious returned to the naval base atScapa Flow on 19 June with 63 captured crewmen fromGonzenheim.[25]
Victorious embarked a new air wing in early July, consisting of the Fulmar-equipped809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and two squadrons (827 NAS and828 NAS) equipped with theFairey Albacore torpedo bomber.[26] To provide support to the Soviet Union following theOperation Barbarossa the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the carriersVictorious andFurious were ordered to conductOperation EF (1941) attacks on the ports of Kirkenes and Petsamo in the far north of Norway and Finland respectively.[26] On 26 July a task force including the two carriers set out fromSeyðisfjörður in Iceland. For the first part of the operation, the task force escorted the minelayerAdventure, on passage toArkhangelsk with a cargo includingmines, before leavingAdventure on 30 July. On 31 July the carriers launched their airstrikes, withVictorious launching 20 Albacores escorted by 12 Fulmars againstKirkenes, whileFurious launched nine Swordfish and nine Albacores escorted by 6 Fulmars against Petsamo (nowPechanga, Russia). The attack against Kirkenes encountered heavy air opposition, with 11 Albacores and 2 Fulmars being shot down, while the attack on Petsamo lost another Albacore and two Fulmars.[27][28][29]
During August,Victorious embarked817 and832 Squadrons, both equipped with Albacores to replace 827 and 828 Squadrons.[30] From 24 to 30 August 1941,Victorious formed part of the distant escort force for the eight merchant ships of Operation Dervish, the firstArctic convoy of the war as they sailed from Iceland to Arkhangelsk, and then covered the aircraft carrierArgus which was delivering Hurricanes toMurmansk (Operation Strength).[31][32] On the return journey,Victorious launched attacks on 12 September against shipping inVestfjorden, claiming two merchant ships sunk, including the NorwegianHurtigruten coastal steamerBarøy, and against theGlomfjord hydro-electric power plant, an aluminium factory and a radio station. No opposition was encountered.[33][34] On 8 October,Victorious carried out another attack against shipping off Norway, with her Albacores damaging two merchant ships with bombs.[35][36]
In November 1941, decrypted GermanEnigma signals indicated a break-out into the Atlantic by the German warshipsAdmiral Scheer andTirpitz.[e]Victorious was deployed to Iceland with the battleshipsKing George V in response, working with the American battleshipsUSS Idaho andMississippi, and cruisersUSS Wichita andTuscaloosa to patrol theDenmark Strait in order to intercept any breakout.[37] WhileAdolf Hitler cancelled the planned sortie on 17 November,[38]Victorious continued patrols with theHome Fleet to stop any breakout, often in very poor weather, until the end of 1941.[39]
On 19 February 1942,Victorious left Scapa Flow in company with the battleshipKing George V, the cruiserBerwick and seven destroyers to attack shipping in theTromsø region, but on 21 February anRAF Coastal Command aircraft spotted the German cruisersAdmiral Scheer andPrinz Eugen on passage to Norway, and the British force was diverted to try and intercept the German ships, which turned back towards Germany on being sighted. On the night of 22/23 FebruaryVictorious launched two forces of 10 and 7 Albacores to search for and attackScheer andPrinz Eugen but they failed to locate their targets in conditions of poor visibility. Three of the Albacores were lost during the operation. The German force was not unscathed, asPrinz Eugen was torpedoed by the British submarineTrident, sustaining damage that took months to repair.[40][41]
In March 1942, the threat posed byTirpitz, now based in Northern Norway, resulted in theHome Fleet providing a strong covering force, includingVictorious, for the concurrent Arctic convoysPQ 12 (out-bound) andQP 8 (return).[42] On 6 March 1942,Tirpitz and three destroyers sortied fromTrondheim to attack the two convoys inOperation Sportpalast. On 7 March 1942, the German destroyerFriedrich Ihn encountered the Soviet freighter Izhora, a straggler from QP 8. The freighter managed to report by radio that she was under attack by a surface ship before being sunk, informing the British that a German force was at sea and near the convoys.[43][44] Whensignals intelligence indicated thatTirpitz was heading back to Norway,Victorious was ordered to search for and attack the German battleship. Six Albacores were flown offVictorious on 0640 hr on 9 March to search forTirpitz, followed by a strike force of 12 torpedo-armed Albacores at 0732 hr. One of the search aircraft spottedTirpitz and directed the strike force to its target, but when the Albacores attacked, the attack was unsuccessful, with all torpedoes missing and two Albacores being shot down.[45] In the last week of March 1942,Victorious formed part of the covering force for convoyPQ 13 andQP 9. The carrier received significant weather damage from aforce 9 gale with 65 ft (20 m) waves buckling the ship's bow plating and forward bulkheads and requiring a short refit at Rosyth to repair the damage.[46][47]Victorious continued to provide cover for Arctic Convoys for the rest April 1942, helping to provide cover for convoysPQ 14, andQP 10. From the end of April, until June, Anglo-American forces (including the US shipsWashington,Tuscaloosa, andWichita) covered convoysPQ 16,QP 12,PQ 17, andQP 13, after whichVictorious returned to Scapa Flow.[14]
The Arctic convoys had been suspended temporarily after the heavy losses suffered by Convoy PQ 17 when twenty-three out of thirty-six ships were sunk. This was after the convoy had been scattered in the belief that an attack was imminent by the German warshipsAdmiral Hipper,Lützow,Admiral Scheer, andTirpitz.
The suspension of the Arctic convoys releasedVictorious to take part in a "last chance" attempt to resupply Malta –Operation Pedestal. Malta-boundConvoy WS 21S departed Britain on 3 August 1942 escorted byVictorious withHMS Nelson and cruisersNigeria,Kenya andManchester. Exercises (Operation Berserk) were performed with aircraft carriersHMS Indomitable,Furious,Eagle andArgus to improve operational techniques.[14]
Pedestal began on 10 August 1942 and involved a great array of ships in several coordinated groups; two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and thirty two destroyers. Some of the carriers were transporting aircraft for Malta's defence and fourteen merchant ships carried supplies. On 12 August 1942Victorious was slightly damaged by an attack from Italian bombers.[14]Eagle was less fortunate, being torpedoed and sunk by a GermanU-boat on her return journey to Gibraltar. UltimatelyPedestal was a success for the allies: supplies, including oil and reinforcingSupermarine Spitfires allowed Malta to hold out, albeit at the cost of the loss of nine merchant ships, one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and a destroyer.
In September 1942,Victorious was taken in hand for a refit that included the installation of anaircraft direction room. After trials, she was ready to participate in the North African landings.[14]
In November 1942,Victorious took part in the North African landings.Operation Torch, which involved 196 ships of theRoyal Navy and 105 of theUnited States Navy, landed about 107,000 Allied soldiers. Ultimately successful, Operation Torch was the precursor to the later invasions ofSicily, Italy and France.Victorious provided air cover during the landings and made air attacks atAlgiers andFort Duree. Four of herGrumman F4F Wildcat fighters landed atBlida airfield to accept its surrender.[14]
She left for Scapa Flow on 18 November and, while en route,Fairey Albacores of817 Squadrondepth chargedU-517 offCape Finisterre. The submarine's structure was badly damaged and she was scuttled; surviving crew were rescued byHMSOpportune.[14]
USS Hornet was sunk andUSS Enterprise was badly damaged at theBattle of the Santa Cruz Islands, leaving theUnited States Navy with only one fleet carrier,USS Saratoga, operational in the Pacific. In late December 1942,Victorious was loaned to the US Navy after an American plea for carrier reinforcement.[48] Whilst in US service she was assigned the radio call sign "Robin" and was informally known as "USS Robin" tongue-in-cheek.[49][unreliable source?] After crossing the Atlantic fromGreenock, via theRoyal Naval Dockyard on theImperial fortresscolony ofBermuda, to refit in the United States at theNorfolk Navy Yard during January, 1943. HerFairey Albacore torpedo-bombers were replaced withGrumman Avengers, requiring the arrestor wires to be strengthened. A new "7 wire" was added on an extension to the aft-end of the flight deck, which increased deck space.Victorious was also equipped with the US Navy YB-type aircraft-homing system, TBS (Talk Between Ships) system, surface- and air-search radars, a vertical plotting board, and American cypher machines. Additional 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns were fitted, along with American Mark 51 fire-control directors. A control station was added to the hangar deck, and a new fire-suppression system for the crew spaces.[50]Victorious passed through thePanama Canal on 14 February to operate with United States forces in thePacific. Her crew suffered an outbreak ofdiphtheria and medical supplies were dropped to her by air on 21 February.[51]
Victorious arrived atPearl Harbor in March 1943 and was fitted with heavier arrester wires as RN wires had proved too light for theGrumman Avenger aircraft. Additional AA guns were also fitted. She sailed for the south-west Pacific, arriving at Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 17 May to join USSSaratoga of Rear AdmiralDeWitt Ramsey’sCarrier Division 1.[50][52] She sortied immediately for a week with Task Force 14, includingSaratoga and battleshipsNorth Carolina,Massachusetts, andIndiana, sweeping against reported Japanese fleet activity, but without contact. Six aircraft were lost to accidents. Rear Admiral Ramsey, commanding the division, carried out evaluation exercises and patrol sweeps in June and determined thatVictorious had superior fighter control but handled Avenger aircraft poorly because of their weight. Accordingly, he transferred 832 Squadron FAA to theSaratoga and US Carrier Air Group 3 to theVictorious. Thereafter,Victorious's primary role was fighter cover andSaratoga mainly handled strikes.
On 27 June, TF14 was redesignated Task Group 36.3 and sailed to provide cover for the invasion ofNew Georgia (part ofOperation Cartwheel).Victorious spent the next 28 days continuously in combat operations at sea, a record for a British carrier, steaming 12,223 miles[clarification needed] at an average speed over 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and launching 614 sorties. Returning to Nouméa on 25 July,Victorious was recalled home. Though the Japanese had four carriers to Ramsey's two, it seemed clear that they were not intending to press their advantage and the first two carriers of the newEssex class had arrived at Pearl Harbor well ahead of schedule.Victorious left for Pearl Harbor on 31 July, leaving behind her Avengers as replacements forSaratoga, sailing in company with battleshipIndiana and launching 165 anti submarine sweeps en route. She also carried US pilots finishing their tours as well as two Japanese POWs. After a brief stop in San Diego,Victorious passed through the Panama Canal on 26 August and arrived at Norfolk Navy Yard 1 September, where specialized US equipment was removed. Returning home, she arrived at Greenock on the Clyde on 26 September 1943 where aircraft and stores were discharged awaiting refit.[53][page needed]
From December 1943 until March 1944,Victorious was under refit atLiverpool, where new radar was fitted.[14] At the end of March,Victorious withAnson andDuke of York formed Force 1, covering the passage ofConvoy JW 58. On 2 April 1944, Force 1 joined with Force 2, composed of the aging carrierHMS Furious and the escort carriersHMS Emperor,Fencer,Pursuer, andSearcher as well as numerous cruisers and destroyers. The combined force launched an attack (Operation Tungsten) on theGerman battleship Tirpitz inAltafjord, Norway. This involvedBarracudas in two waves, hitting the battleship fourteen times and strafing the ship's defences. Although near-misses caused flooding and there was serious damage to the superstructure, the ship's armour was not penetrated. Nonetheless, the attack putTirpitz out of action for some months.[f][54] The Task Force returned toScapa Flow three days later.
Victorious was to participate in three further attacks onTirpitz, in April and May (Operations Planet, Brawn, and Tiger Claw), but these were cancelled due to bad weather and anti-shipping strikes were substituted. On 30 May, anacoustic torpedo attack byU-957 againstVictorious failed and subsequently she made more shipping attacks off Norway (Operation Lombard).[14]
In June 1944,Victorious, in company with HMSIndomitable, left British waters to join theEastern Fleet atColombo,Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she arrived on 5 July. The Eastern Fleet, after a quiet period of trade protection and relative vulnerability, was now being reinforced with ships released from the Atlantic and Mediterranean, in preparation for offensive action against the Japanese.[55]
After a short preparatory period,Victorious took part in a sequence of air attacks against Japanese installations. The first was Operation Crimson on 25 July, a joint attack with HMSIllustrious on airfields nearSabang inSumatra. In late August, she provided air cover for Eastern Fleet ships that were providing air-sea rescue facilities for US Army aircraft during air attacks on Sumatra (Operation Boomerang). On 29 August, in company with HMSIllustrious andIndomitable and escorted by HMSHowe,Victorious made air strikes onPadang,Indaroeng andEmmahaven (Operation Banquet). After a short pause, on 18 September,Victorious andIndomitable attackedrailway yards atSigli in Sumatra followed by photo-reconnaissance of theNicobar Islands (Operation Light). DuringLight, there was a "friendly fire" attack onHMSSpirit, fortunately without causing any casualties.[14]
At the end of September,Victorious had a short interval atBombay for repairs to her steering gear to remedy problems that had arisen during Operation Light. She rejoined the Eastern Fleet on 6 October. The next operation,Millet, was her last with the Eastern Fleet. On 17 October, she launched attacks on theNicobar Islands andNancowry harbour, with HMSIndomitable and escorted by HMSRenown. Enemy air attacks destroyed four aircraft and damaged five more. During early November,Victorious returned to Bombay for more work on her steering as more problems had arisen duringMillet.[14]
TheBritish Pacific Fleet (BPF) was formed at Trincomalee on 22 November 1944 from elements of the Eastern Fleet andVictorious was transferred to the new fleet. From November 1944 until January 1945 the BPF stayed in the Indian Ocean, training and gaining experience that they would need when working with the United States Navy.Victorious, however, remained under repair at Bombay until January 1945 and missed raids on oil refineries atPangkalan Brandan (Operation Robson).[14]
In early January 1945, she was available forOperation Lentil, a repeat raid on the oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan with HM ShipsIndomitable andImplacable. Further raids on Japanese oil and port installations in Sumatra were made on 16 January. By late January, the BPF had finally quit Ceylon and was en route to its new home base inSydney. The voyage was interrupted on 24 January for another series of raids, this time onPladjoe andManna in south west Sumatra (Operation Meridian) during which there was little opposition from Japanese aircraft. This was followed on 29 January by unsuccessful attacks on oil installations atSoengi-Gerong. This time, the Japanese attempted air attacks on the British fleet but these were beaten off. Total aircraft losses by all carriers were 16 aircraft in action and another 25 lost by ditching or on landing. NineFleet Air Arm pilots captured by the Japanese were executed in April 1945.[56]
In early February,Victorious joined Task Force 113 (TF113) at Sydney to prepare for service with theUS 5th Fleet. At the end of the month, TF113 leftSydney for their forward base atManus Island, north ofNew Guinea, and then continued, joining the 5th US Fleet atUlithi on 25 March as Task Force 57 (TF57), supporting theAmerican assault on Okinawa. The task allocated to the British force was to neutralise airfields in theSakishima Gunto. From late March until 25 May, the British carriersVictorious,Illustrious (later replaced byFormidable),Indefatigable andIndomitable formed the1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron commanded by Vice AdmiralPhilip Vian and they were in action against airfields on the Sakishima Islands (Operations Iceberg I and Iceberg II) andFormosa (Operation Iceberg Oolong).[14][57]
The British carriers were attacked bykamikaze suicide aircraft andVictorious was hit on 4 and 9 May and near-missed on 1 April, but her armoured flight deck resisted the worst of the impacts. She remained on station and was back in operation within hours on each occasion, despite damage to an aircraft lift and steam piping in her superstructure. Three men were killed and 19 of the ship's company were injured.[14]
After May 1945 the British Pacific Fleet withdrew to Sydney and Manus for refits and, in the cases ofVictorious,Formidable andIndefatigable, for repairs to battle damage. The British fleet rendezvoused with theUS 3rd Fleet on 16 July and became effectively absorbed into the American structure as a part of TF38 for the "softening up" of Japanese resistance within their home islands.[58]
During the second half of July, aircraft fromVictorious took part in a series of attacks on Japanese shipping, transport and airbases onHonshu and around theInland Sea. In one notable attack in July, aircraft of849 Squadron fromVictorious located the Japaneseescort carrierKaiyo atBeppu Bay inKyūshū and attacked her, inflicting serious damage that kept the ship out of the remainder of the war.[59] In the main, however, British aircraft were excluded from the actions against the major Japanese naval bases; the Americans, for political reasons, preferred to reserve these targets for themselves.[60][61]
Victorious was scheduled to leave forManus Island withTask Force 37 (TF37) on 10 August 1945 to prepare for the anticipated invasion of Japan (Operation Olympic), and actually left on August 12, then proceeding to Sydney. The surrender of Japan on 15 August rendered the invasion moot. TheBritish Pacific Fleet (BPF) commander had agreed to stay for one more day's operations, but the British arrangements could not stretch to a further delay and fuel shortages were insurmountable.[62] The steering faults that had hamperedVictorious in the Indian Ocean in late 1944 are believed to have continued.[14]
On 31 August,Victorious's ship's company took part in theVictory Parade inSydney.[14]
Victorious left Australia in September 1945, arrived back in Britain on 27 October and undertook three trips to collect servicemen andwar brides of British servicemen from Australia and the Far East.[63] In the winter of 1946–47, the first deck trials with theHawker Sea Fury (Mark 10) took place aboardVictorious, leading to its approval for carrier operations in early 1947.[64]
Victorious was reduced to the reserve atDevonport on 15 January 1947, on completion of her trooping duties. From June that year she was modified atPortsmouth Dockyard with additional accommodation and classrooms and on 1 October 1947, joined theHome Fleet Training Squadron, replacing the battleshipNelson. In July 1948,Victorious was deployed toPortland Harbour in support of thesailing events at the1948 London Olympic Games. In 1949 she was refitted at Rosyth and took part in several training cruises and Home Fleet exercises.[65]
The ship was extensively reconstructed and modernised atPortsmouth Dockyard between 1950 and 1958. This took over eight years because of frequent design changes to allow for new technologies.And in particular, the decision in 1953 that she would have to have her original steam turbines replaced, to be viable past 1964, which meant much work had to be redone, and a new flight deck installed twice over.[citation needed] The cost of the reconstruction increased from 5 million pounds to 30 million pounds[66] creating what was in many respects a new ship.[67] Her hull was widened, deepened, and lengthened; her machinery was replaced withFoster-Wheeler boilers; her hangar height was increased; new armament of 3 inch (76 mm) guns was installed; a fullyangled flight deck (of 8 degrees) and steam catapults were added. Her radar equipment was extensively altered to include up to date equipment, and included the first type 984 3-D radar system to be installed on a ship.[68] While it was hoped she could operate a full air group of 50 aircraft, the rapid increase in size of the jets coming into service limited her to operating no more than 28 aircraft (including helicopters).
%2c_Ark_Royal_(R09)_and_Hermes_(R12)_underway_c1961.jpg)
In 1960, after recommissioning into the Home Fleet on 14 January 1958, with work-ups and deployments in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, she portrayed both herself and HMSArk Royal during the filming of the British filmSink the Bismarck!. This was despite post-war modifications significantly altering her appearance – the addition of an angled deck and aType 984 "searchlight" radar. The actorKenneth More who had served aboardVictorious as a junior officer, played a fictitious Admiralty Director of Operations. He is shown giving the order to detachVictorious fromConvoy WS 8B, which was forming in the River Clyde in order to move almost 20,000 troops to the Middle East.
Victorious took part inOperation Vantage in support ofKuwait in July 1961.[69] Later in 1961 she would sail to join theFar East Fleet. In 1964, she provided support for the newly independent state ofMalaysia against territorial expansion by its neighbour,Indonesia.[70] Her passage through the Sunda Strait caused theSunda Straits Crisis between August and September 1964, which was settled peacefully when Indonesia agreed to allowVictorious to return through the Lombok Strait.[71] In April 1966 she departed again to serve with the Far East Fleet for a year, during which she proved capable of landing and then launching a US Navy Phantom F-4 fromUSS Ranger,[72] returning to the UK for a refit period from June 1967.
General characteristics ofVictorious after reconstruction.[73]
| Displacement | 30,530 tons standard, 35,500 tons full load |
| Length | 781 ft (238 m) |
| Beam | 103 ft 6 inch (31.5 m) water line, 157 ft (47.8 m) flight deck |
| Draught | 31 ft (9.5 m) |
| Machinery | 3 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 6 Foster wheeler boilers |
| Armour |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft | 36 |
| Radar | Type 984, Type 974, Type 293Q |
| Crew | 2400 |
On 11 November 1967, after the completion of the 1967 refit and shortly before the start of what was intended as the ship's final commission, there was a relatively small fire, which was rapidly extinguished, in the chief petty officers'mess (resulting in one death and two hospitalisations[74]). Although damage was relatively minor, the fire coincided with a reduction of the defence budget and a manpower shortage for the Royal Navy. Together with the 1966 decision to phase out fixed-wing naval aviation, it was decided at very short notice not to recommissionVictorious. Her captain was told of this just one day before the scheduled recommissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held by the ship's crew anyway as a "wake" for the ship.[75] She waspaid off in 1968 and placed on the Disposal List in 1969. She was sold later that year toBritish Shipbreakers and towed on 13 July 1969 toFaslane Naval Base, where she wasbroken up.[14][g]
| Squadron | Aircraft type | Number of aircraft | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 801 NAS | Buccaneer S2 | 9 | Strike |
| 899 NAS | Sea Vixen FAW2 | 10 | Fleet Air Defence |
| 849A NAS | Gannet AEW3 | 4 | Airborne Early Warning |
| Gannet COD4 | 1 | Carrier On-Board Delivery | |
| 814 NAS | Wessex HAS.3 | 5 | Anti-Submarine Warfare |
| Ships Flight | Wessex HAS.1 | 2 | Search and Rescue |
| Naval Air Squadron | Dates | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|
| 809 | January 1941 – November 1942 | Fulmar II |
| 825 | May–June 1941 | Swordfish I |
| 800Z | May–June 1941 | Fulmar I |
| 820 | June 1941 | Swordfish I |
| 828 | July–August 1941 | Albacore I |
| 827 | July–August 1941 | Albacore I |
| 820 | July 1941 – January 1942 | Albacore I |
| 817 | August 1941 – November 1942 | Albacore I |
| 832 | August 1941 – December 1942 | Albacore I |
| 802 detachment 8 | September 1941 | Martlet I |
| 885 | June–August 1942 | Sea Hurricane Ib |
| 884 | July–November 1942 | Spitfire V |
| 801 detachment | Aug 1942 | Sea Hurricane Ib |
| 896 | September 1942 – September 1943 | Martlet IV |
| 898 | October 1942 – October 1943 | Martlet IV |
| 882 | October 1942 – September 1943 | Martlet IV |
| 832 | January – September 1943 | Avenger 1 |
| 1834 | February 1944 – October 1945 | Corsair II/IV |
| 827 | March–April 1944 | Barracuda II |
| 829 | March–July 1944 | Barracuda II |
| 831 | March–August 1944 | Barracuda II |
| 1836 | March 1944 – October 1945 | Corsair II/IV |
| 1837 | July–Sept 1944 | Corsair II |
| 1838 | July 1944 | Corsair II |
| 822 detachment 9 | September 1944 | Barracuda II |
| 849 | December 1944 – October 1945 | Avenger II |
| 701C | November 1957 – July 1958 | Dragonfly HR3 |
| 803 | June 1958 – March 1962 | Supermarine Scimitar |
| 824 | August 1958 – February 1959 | Westland Whirlwind HAS7 |
| 849B | September 1958 – June 1960 | Douglas Skyraider AEW1 |
| 893 | September 1958 – February 1960 | Sea Vixen FAW1 |
| 831B | November 1958 – December 1958 | Sea Venom ECM22 |
| 894 detachment | February 1959 | Sea Venom FAW22 |
| 894 | June–August 1959 | Sea Venom FAW22 |
| 892 | July 1959 – March 1962 | Sea Vixen FAW1 |
| 831B | September 1959 – December 1959 | Sea Venom ECM22 |
| 831A | January 1960 – February 1960 | Gannet ECM4 |
| 815 | December 1961 | Westland Wessex HAS1 |
| 849B | June 1960 – March 1962 | Gannet AEW3 |
| 825 | August 1960 – April 1962 | Whirlwind HAS7 |
| 893 detachment | September 1960 | Sea Vixen FAW1 |
| 819 | July 1963 – August 1963 | Wessex HAS1 |
| 801 | August 1963 – July 1965 | Buccaneer S1 |
| 814 | August 1963 – June 1967 | Wessex HAS1 |
| 849A | August 1963 – July 1965 | Gannet AEW3 |
| 893 | August 1963 – July 1965 | Sea Vixen FAW1 |
| 899 detachment | August 1963 | Sea Vixen FAW1 |
| 893 | November 1965 – June 1967 | Sea Vixen FAW2 |
| 849A | June 1966 – June 1967 | Gannet AEW3 |
| 801 | May 1966 – May 1968 | Buccaneer S2 |
