Difficult fate "Vayntisinko de Mayo"
The Argentine aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo (May 25, Veinticinco de Mayo) is a ship with a very ironic fate. Built in the UK, he fought against his former homeland, after which he went for disposal to the former British colony of India. Another irony is that all the states under whose flag he served, experienced the decline of their naval fleet: Britain, Holland, Argentina. He did not bring military luck to any country.
The Wenerable (the future Waintissinko de Mayo) belonged to the Colossus class and in many ways resembled a reconstructed civilian ship more than a ship originally built for the needs of the Royal Navy. He had an extremely weak booking and a small displacement even for aircraft carriers of the time - only 16 000 tons. Such savings arose under the conditions of the Second World War, when Britain (as well as other powers that fought at sea) required as simple an aircraft carrier unit as possible in the shortest possible time.
In January, 1945, the new ship entered service. His wing was made up of British "Barracuda" and American fighter "Corsair" in deck modification. Since the fate of Germany at that time was almost decided in the land battles, "Venerabel" had to fight in the Pacific against the Japanese Empire. But here, too, he did not take part, except in the capture of Hong Kong by the British - with the almost complete absence of Japanese resistance.
After the war, Great Britain found itself in a difficult situation: its empire was cracking, and its finances crashed and many ships went under the hammer, including the Venable, which was sold to Holland, where it underwent a radical modernization and was renamed Karel Doorman. If the Netherlands initially used it as an escort aircraft carrier, then in recent years of service it rather resembled anti-submarine because of a large bias towards helicopters and PLO aircraft.
The only relatively serious operation in which Karel Doorman managed to take part under the Dutch flag was a "demonstration of force" in 1960, off the coast of Western New Guinea, to which Indonesia claimed in those years. The Netherlands planned to grant this colony independence and unite it with the Australian part of the island, so it was decided to intimidate Jakarta and make it tremble before the power of the Dutch spirit. The aircraft carrier, accompanied by two destroyers and a tanker, nevertheless, did not cause much fright in Indonesians, and Western New Guinea was captured and annexed by them.
Of the other notable episodes in the Dutch part of the ship’s life, we can note the visit to Japan in honor of the 350 anniversary and the establishment of relations between the countries and the fire that became the formal reason for selling the ship to Argentina.
It is worth mentioning that the Dutch invested heavily in the modernization of the ship, radars, air defense systems were replaced, the deck and mechanisms of the air finisers were strengthened, the “island” was completely rebuilt. However, after the loss of Pacific possessions, such a ship could not afford a small country and in 1968 it was sold to Argentina, where it again changed its name to “Veintisinko de Mayo”. In Buenos Aires, the purchase was considered successful. They got a relatively new and recently upgraded carrier deck aviationwhich is now based on the A-4 Skyhawk carrier-based attack aircraft.
The first conflict for the new ship under the flag of Argentina could have taken place already in 1978, when the leadership of this country planned to use it in the war against Chile over the Picton Islands, Lenox and Nueva. But then the war between the two military junta was miraculously avoided.
By the beginning of the 1980's, Argentines, not without reason, considered the British lion weak enough to be escorted from the South Atlantic. And first of all from the Falkland Islands, to which Argentina has claimed since its inception. “Veintisinko de Mayo” in this conflict was to play one of the main roles, first with the support of the landing, then when patrolling the area adjacent to the islands. Already after it became known about the withdrawal of the British squadron, plans for striking enemy aircraft carriers with Skyhawks began to be worked out. But 1 May 1982, when the strike was planned, the gale prevented the stormtroopers from taking off. The ensuing catastrophe with the torpedoing of the cruiser "General Belgrano" finally convinced the Argentinean command of the futility of the naval duel and the aircraft carrier was recalled from the combat zone. After that, the outcome of the conflict was actually predetermined.
After the war, Buenos Aires did not have money to upgrade the ship. In 1997, the aircraft carrier was excluded from the fleet. Separate mechanisms were sold to Brazil. For example, a catapult was used on the Brazilian aircraft carrier Minas Gerais. Ultimately, "Weintisinko de Mayo" was sold and cut into metal in the Indian Alang. Replacing decommissioned "Weintisinko de Mayo" with a new aircraft carrier turned out to be too expensive.
The Wenerable (the future Waintissinko de Mayo) belonged to the Colossus class and in many ways resembled a reconstructed civilian ship more than a ship originally built for the needs of the Royal Navy. He had an extremely weak booking and a small displacement even for aircraft carriers of the time - only 16 000 tons. Such savings arose under the conditions of the Second World War, when Britain (as well as other powers that fought at sea) required as simple an aircraft carrier unit as possible in the shortest possible time.
In January, 1945, the new ship entered service. His wing was made up of British "Barracuda" and American fighter "Corsair" in deck modification. Since the fate of Germany at that time was almost decided in the land battles, "Venerabel" had to fight in the Pacific against the Japanese Empire. But here, too, he did not take part, except in the capture of Hong Kong by the British - with the almost complete absence of Japanese resistance.
After the war, Great Britain found itself in a difficult situation: its empire was cracking, and its finances crashed and many ships went under the hammer, including the Venable, which was sold to Holland, where it underwent a radical modernization and was renamed Karel Doorman. If the Netherlands initially used it as an escort aircraft carrier, then in recent years of service it rather resembled anti-submarine because of a large bias towards helicopters and PLO aircraft.
The only relatively serious operation in which Karel Doorman managed to take part under the Dutch flag was a "demonstration of force" in 1960, off the coast of Western New Guinea, to which Indonesia claimed in those years. The Netherlands planned to grant this colony independence and unite it with the Australian part of the island, so it was decided to intimidate Jakarta and make it tremble before the power of the Dutch spirit. The aircraft carrier, accompanied by two destroyers and a tanker, nevertheless, did not cause much fright in Indonesians, and Western New Guinea was captured and annexed by them.
Of the other notable episodes in the Dutch part of the ship’s life, we can note the visit to Japan in honor of the 350 anniversary and the establishment of relations between the countries and the fire that became the formal reason for selling the ship to Argentina.
It is worth mentioning that the Dutch invested heavily in the modernization of the ship, radars, air defense systems were replaced, the deck and mechanisms of the air finisers were strengthened, the “island” was completely rebuilt. However, after the loss of Pacific possessions, such a ship could not afford a small country and in 1968 it was sold to Argentina, where it again changed its name to “Veintisinko de Mayo”. In Buenos Aires, the purchase was considered successful. They got a relatively new and recently upgraded carrier deck aviationwhich is now based on the A-4 Skyhawk carrier-based attack aircraft.
The first conflict for the new ship under the flag of Argentina could have taken place already in 1978, when the leadership of this country planned to use it in the war against Chile over the Picton Islands, Lenox and Nueva. But then the war between the two military junta was miraculously avoided.
By the beginning of the 1980's, Argentines, not without reason, considered the British lion weak enough to be escorted from the South Atlantic. And first of all from the Falkland Islands, to which Argentina has claimed since its inception. “Veintisinko de Mayo” in this conflict was to play one of the main roles, first with the support of the landing, then when patrolling the area adjacent to the islands. Already after it became known about the withdrawal of the British squadron, plans for striking enemy aircraft carriers with Skyhawks began to be worked out. But 1 May 1982, when the strike was planned, the gale prevented the stormtroopers from taking off. The ensuing catastrophe with the torpedoing of the cruiser "General Belgrano" finally convinced the Argentinean command of the futility of the naval duel and the aircraft carrier was recalled from the combat zone. After that, the outcome of the conflict was actually predetermined.
After the war, Buenos Aires did not have money to upgrade the ship. In 1997, the aircraft carrier was excluded from the fleet. Separate mechanisms were sold to Brazil. For example, a catapult was used on the Brazilian aircraft carrier Minas Gerais. Ultimately, "Weintisinko de Mayo" was sold and cut into metal in the Indian Alang. Replacing decommissioned "Weintisinko de Mayo" with a new aircraft carrier turned out to be too expensive.
Information