HMAS Melbourne (R21)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Melbourne and HMS Majestic.

Side view of an aircraft carrier in motion. A helicopter sits on the carrier's deck, and several dark-uniformed people can also be seen.
HMAS Melbourne in 1967
History
Australia
NamesakeCity of Melbourne
Ordered1943
BuilderVickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down15 April 1943
Launched28 February 1945 as HMS Majestic
Christened26 October 1955 as HMAS Majestic
Commissioned28 October 1955 as HMAS Melbourne
Decommissioned30 May 1982
Motto
  • Vires Acquirit Eundo
  • Latin: "She Gathers Strength As She Goes"
Honours and
awards
FateSold for scrap
Badge
A ship's badge. A naval crown sits on top of a black scroll with "MELBOURNE" written in gold. This is atop a yellow, rope-patterned ring, in which the head and torso of a kangaroo, holding a crown, is depicted. Below the ring are a stone axe and a nulla nulla sitting on top of a boomerang. At the bottom of the badge is a black scroll with "VIRES ACQUIRIT EUNDO" written.
General characteristics
Class and typeModified Majestic-class light aircraft carrier
Displacement
  • Standard: 15,740 long tons (17,630 short tons)
  • Full load: 20,000 long tons (22,000 short tons)
Length
  • 213.97 m (702 ft) overall
  • Increased by 2.43 m (8 ft) in 1969
Beam24.38 m (80 ft)
Draught7.62 m (25 ft)
PropulsionTwo Parsons single-reduction geared turbine sets; four Admiralty 3-drum boilers; two screws (port: 3 blade, starboard: 4 blade); 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range
  • 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
  • 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement1,350, including 350 Air Group personnel
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Radar:
  • 1955–1968:
  • 3 × Type 277Q height-finding set
  • 1 × Type 293Q surface search set
  • 1 × Type 978 navigational set
  • 1969–1982:
  • 1 × Type 293Q surface search set
  • 1 × Type 978 navigational set
  • 1 × LW-02 air search set
  • 1 × SPN-35 landing aid radar
Armament
  • 1955–1959:
  • 25 × 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (6 twin mountings, 13 single mountings)
  • 1959–1968:
  • 21 × Bofors (6 twin, 9 single)
  • 1969–1980:
  • 12 × Bofors (4 twin, 4 single)
  • 1980–1982:
  • 4 × Bofors (4 single)
Aircraft carriedUp to 27 aircraft, including helicopters

HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1955 until 1982, and was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier[note 1] to serve in the RAN. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions.[1]

Melbourne was laid down for the Royal Navy as the lead ship of the Majestic class in April 1943, and was launched as HMS Majestic (R77) in February 1945. At the end of the Second World War, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the RAN in 1947. At the time of purchase, it was decided to incorporate new aircraft carrier technologies into the design, making Melbourne the third [ambiguous] ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955.

Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her service career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in relation to the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and the Vietnam War. She was, however, involved in two major collisions with allied vessels; though Melbourne was not found to be the primary cause of either incident. The first collision occurred on the evening of 10 February 1964, in which Melbourne rammed and sank the RAN destroyer HMAS Voyager, when the latter altered course across her bow. 82 of Voyager's personnel were killed, and two Royal Commissions were held to investigate the incident. The second collision occurred in the early morning of 3 June 1969, when Melbourne also rammed the United States Navy (USN) destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in similar circumstances. 74 American personnel died, and a joint USN–RAN Board of Inquiry was held. These incidents, along with several minor collisions, shipboard accidents and aircraft losses, led to the belief that Melbourne was jinxed.[2]

Melbourne was paid off from RAN service in 1982. A proposal to convert her for use as a floating casino failed, and a 1984 sale was cancelled, before she was sold for scrap in 1985 and towed to China for breaking. The scrapping was delayed so Melbourne could be studied by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as part of a secret project to develop a Chinese aircraft carrier and used to train PLAN aviators in carrier flight operations.[3]


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