HMS Victorious (R38)

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	Cape of Good Hope 1795 St Lucia 1796 Egypt 1801 Walcheren 1809 Rivoli Action 1812 Bismarck Action 1941 Norway 1941–42 Arctic 1941–42 Malta Convoys 1942 Biscay 1942 Sabang 1944 Palembang 1945 Okinawa 1945 Japan 1945
Fate	Scrapped, 1969
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Illustrious-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	As built: 23,207 tons lightship, 28,619 tons full load Post-refit: 35,500 tons full load
Length	As built: 673 ft (205 m) waterline 743 ft 9 in (226.70 m) overall Post-1957 refit: 778 ft 3 in (237.21 m) overall
Beam	(waterline) As built: 95 ft (29 m) Post-1957 refit: 103 ft (31.4 m) over bulges (flight deck) 145 ft 9 in (44.42 m)
Draught	(full load) As built: 28 ft (8.5 m) Post-1957 refit: 31 ft (9.45 m)
Installed power	6 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 111,000 shp (83,000 kW)
Propulsion	3 shafts, 3 geared steam turbines
Speed	30.5 knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph)
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	As built: 817 (ship) + 394 (air group) post refit: 2,200 (including air group)
Armament	16 × 4.5 inch (8 × 2) 48 × 2-pounder (6 × 8) 21 × 40 mm AA (2 × 4, 2 × 2, 9 × 1) 45 × 20 mm AA (45 × 1)
Armour	flight deck: 3" hangar deck: 2" side belt 4" hangar sides: 4"
Aircraft carried	During World War II: included: Albacore, Avenger, Barracuda, Corsair, Fulmar, Seafire, Sea Hurricane, Swordfish, Wildcat, F6F Hellcat 1941: 36 Fulmar/Albacore 1943: 52 Martlet IV/Avenger 1945: 54 Corsair/Avenger Post-refit aircraft included: Gannet, Scimitar, Sea Fury, Sea Hawk, Sea Vixen, Buccaneer

HMS Victorious was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle 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 the Battle of the Atlantic.

Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleship Bismarck, several Arctic convoys, and Operation 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 1944 Victorious contributed to several attacks on the Tirpitz. The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to the Eastern Fleet at Colombo and then to the Pacific 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 of Type 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 the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and a fire while under refit, prompted her final withdrawal from service, three to five years early, and she was scrapped in 1969.