Audacious-class aircraft carrier

Royal Navy aircraft carrier class

Class overview
HMS Eagle
Name	Audacious class
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Implacable class
Succeeded by	Malta class (cancelled) CVA-01 (cancelled) Invincible class
Planned	4
Completed	2
Cancelled	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Aircraft carrier
Displacement	36,800 tons (as built)
Length	804 ft (245 m)
Beam	Ark Royal 112 ft (34 m) (as built) Eagle 135 ft (41 m)
Draught	33 ft (10 m)
Propulsion	8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers in 4 boiler rooms 4 sets of Parsons geared turbines, 4 shafts Power: 152,000 shp (113,000 kW)
Speed	Eagle 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) Ark Royal 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph)
Range	*Eagle* 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) Ark Royal 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Armament	Eagle (As built:) 16 × 4.5 inch guns (8 × 2) 61 × 40 mm guns (8 × 6, 2 × 2, 9 × 1) Post-1964 re-fit: 8 × 4.5 inch guns (4 × 2) 6 × Seacat SAM missile launchers Ark Royal (As built:) 16 × 4.5 inch guns (8 × 2) 52 × 40 mm (6 × 6, 2 × 2, 12 × 1) 1969 refit: none
Armour	Eagle Waterline belt: 4 in (100 mm) Armoured flight deck: 1–4 in (25–102 mm) Hangar side: 1 in (25 mm) Hangar deck: 1 in (25 mm)
Aircraft carried	Eagle (As built:) 60 Post-1964: 45 Ark Royal (As built:) 50 38 after 1967-1970 refit

The Audacious-class aircraft carriers were a class of aircraft carriers proposed by the British government in the 1930s - 1940s and completed after the Second World War. The two ships built were heavily modified and diverged over their service lives. They were in operation from 1951 until 1979.

History

The Audacious class was originally designed as an expansion of the Implacable class with double storied hangars. However, it was realised that the hangar height would not be sufficient for the new aircraft that were expected to enter service, so the design was considerably enlarged.

Four ships were laid down between 1942 and 1943 during World War II as part of the British naval buildup - Africa, Irresistible, Audacious and Eagle. At the end of hostilities Africa and Eagle were cancelled. Work on the remaining two was suspended. They would be renamed and built to differing designs in the 1950s.

As the builds of Audacious (renamed Eagle) and Irresistible (renamed Ark Royal) progressed they differed so much that they effectively became the lead (and sole) ships of each of their own classes. They formed the backbone of the postwar carrier fleet, and were much modified.

Ships in class


Name	Pennant Number	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
HMS Eagle (Ex Audacious)	R05	Harland and Wolff, Belfast	24 October, 1942 as HMS Audacious. Renamed at the start of 1946 as Eagle after the aircraft carrier that was sunk in 1942.	19 March, 1946	5 October, 1951	Decommissioned 26 January, 1972.
HMS Ark Royal (Ex Irresistible)	R09	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	3 May, 1943 as HMS Irresistible Later renamed after the third Ark Royal that was lost in 1941.	3 May, 1950	22 February, 1955	Decommissioned 14 February, 1979.
HMS Eagle	N/A	Ordered from Swan Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne in August 1942. Transferred to Vickers-Armstrong in December that year.	19 April, 1944	N/A	N/A	Cancelled January 1946 when 23% complete.
HMS Africa	N/A	Ordered from Fairfield, Govan on 12 July 1943. Later Re-ordered as a Malta-class aircraft carrier in 1944.	N/A	N/A	N/A	Cancelled 15 October, 1945.

References

"Audacious Class: Armoured Flight Decks". Armoured Aircraft Carriers in World War II. Retrieved 14 January 2018.

External links

Media related to Audacious class aircraft carriers at Wikimedia Commons

Audacious-class aircraft carrier
Eagle Ark Royal
Preceded by: Colossus and Majestic classes Followed by: Centaur class
List of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy

v t e British naval ship classes of the Second World War
Aircraft carriers	Courageous Eagle Ark Royal Illustrious Implacable Audacious Malta
Light aircraft carriers	Argus Hermes Unicorn Colossus Majestic Centaur
Escort carriers	Archer Audacity Avenger Attacker Ruler Activity Pretoria Castle Nairana
Battleships	Queen Elizabeth Revenge Nelson King George V Lion Vanguard
Battlecruisers	Renown Hood
Heavy cruisers	Hawkins County York
Light cruisers	C Danae Hawkins Emerald Leander Arethusa Town Dido Fiji Minotaur Neptune Minotaur (1947)
Destroyer leaders	Thornycroft type (Shakespeare) Admiralty type (Scott)
Destroyers	R S V & W Town Ambuscade Amazon A & B C & D E & F G & H I Tribal J, K & N Hunt L & M O & P Q & R S & T U & V W & Z C Battle Weapon G Daring
Frigates	River Captain Colony Loch Bay
Corvettes	Flower Castle
Sloops	24 Bridgewater Hastings Banff Shoreham Grimsby Kingfisher Bittern Egret Black Swan
Minelayers	Adventure Abdiel Plover Linnet M Agamemnon Menestheus Port Napier Port Quebec Southern Prince Teviot Bank
Minesweepers	Hunt Halcyon Bangor MMS Auk Algerine Cybele
Netlayers	Guardian Mary White Protector Bar Net
Submarines	H L Odin Parthian Rainbow S River Grampus T U P611 V Amphion X XE
Coastal	Harbour defence motor launch Fairmile B motor launch Motor torpedo boat Motor gunboat Steam gun boat Insect-class gunboat Dragonfly-class river gunboat Type Two 63 ft HSL
Other	Trawlers Castle Basset Isles Portuguese Tree Dance Shakespearian Round Table Monitors Erebus Roberts Seaplane carriers Pegasus Albatross Submarine depot ship Adamant Bonaventure Forth Maidstone Titania Merchant aircraft carriers Fighter catapult ships Armed merchant cruisers Ocean boarding vessels
A American built X Cancelled C Completed after the war C,P Laid down and completed after the war V Conversions

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