Centaur-class aircraft carrier

HMS Centaur in 1965
Class overview
NameCentaur class
Builders
Operators
Preceded by1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier
Succeeded byInvincible class
SubclassesHermes (completed to a modified design)
Built1944-1959
In commission
  • 1953-1983 (Royal Navy)
  • 1987-2017 (Indian Navy)
Planned8
Completed4
Cancelled4
Retired4
General characteristics 1947 design
TypeLight aircraft carrier
Displacement
  • 22,471 tons (standard)[1]
  • 27,015 tons (deep)[1]
Length736 ft (224.3 m)[1]
Beam120.6 ft (36.8 m)[1]
Draught27.2 ft (8.3 m)[1]
Installed power76,000 hp (57,000 kW)[1]
Propulsion2 shaft geared steam turbines, 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers[2]
Speed28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph)[1]
Range6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 kn[1]
Complement227 officers, 1596 ratings[1]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 x Type 980 air warning radar
  • 1 x Type 293 gunnery air search radar
  • 4 x Type 277Q air control radar
Armament32 40 mm Bofors guns (2 × 6), (8 × 2), (4 × 1)[1]
Armour1 in (25 mm) flight deck
Aircraft carried50[1]
Aviation facilities
  • 2 x BH V hydraulic catapults[1]
  • Mk 11 arrestor gear[1]

The Centaur class aircraft carrier was the final iteration of the 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier developed by the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. They were designed in 1943 to operate higher-performance aircraft than the preceding Majestic-class aircraft carrier. Four ships were laid down in 1944-1945 and completed in 1953-1959. Rapid developments in carrier warfare and technology overtook the ships even as they were under construction, and the associated costs of modernization led to ships being completed to different specifications. Only the last ship, HMS Hermes (R12), was fitted as a modern fixed-wing carrier; she was also the last of the class to retire in 2017 as INS Viraat.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Friedman 1988, p. 262.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference hobbs_2014_ch25 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).