HERMES HMS 1959 VIRAAT INS

[shipstamps]

Built by Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness as an aircraft-carrier for the Royal Navy.
21 June 1944 keel laid down intended name HMS ELEPHANT.
Construction was suspended on the end of World War II in 1945.
1952 Building resumed to clear the slipway, launched on 16 Feb. 1953 under the name HMS HERMES. (R12)
After launching laid up until 1957 when work commenced again to a revised design.
Displacement 23.900 standard, 28.300 tons maximum, dim. 277 x 48.8 x 8.5m. (draught). Beam of hull 27.4m
Two Parsons geared turbines, 76.000 shp., speed 28 knots. Twin screws.
Bunker capacity 3.500 tons, range against 20 knots 5.040 mile.
Armament 5 twin Bofors AA 40mm guns, 4 – 3pdr. saluting guns.
Crew 2.100 including air groups. Carried up to 30 aircraft.
18 November 1959 completed and commissioned on 25 November 1959 at Portsmouth.

July 1960 in the Mediterranean of working up.
07 Nov. 1960 in the U.K. for a self-maintenance period.
24 Feb. 1961 Exercise Jet 61 off Trincomalee.
She returned to Portsmouth on 16 October 1961 for a refit.
May 1962 sailed for sea trails and then to the Mediterranean.
05 October 1962 returned at Portsmouth.
The same year in November left the U.K for the British Far Eastern Fleet.
29 August 1963 arrived back in the U.K after a ship maintenance period in Mombassa.
24 February 1964 arrived at the Devonport Dockyard for a major refit until May 1966. Facilities added to operate Sea Vixen and Buccaneer aircraft. Flight deck widened to a maximum of 160ft starboard of the island. The 40 mm AA guns removed and replaced by 2 GWS22 Seacat point-defence SAM quad launchers added, the displacement increased to 24.900 tons standard.
13 January 1967 sailed for the Mediterranean.
June 1967 joined the British Far Eastern Fleet.
02 October 1967 returned to the UK for docking at Portsmouth.
August 1968 re-joined the British Far Eastern Fleet.
April 1969 returned to Portsmouth for docking.
02 September 1969 joined the Western Fleet.
14 July 1970 decommissioned into care and maintenance and conversion to amphibious-assault helicopter and commando-carrier at Devonport Dockyard. Conversion commenced on 01 March 1971.
All fixed wing facilities removed and flight deck strengthened. Added accommodation for 750 troops and their equipment. Crew 980. Carried 18 helicopters.
18 August 1973 recommissioned.
June 1974 used in commando training in Canada.
July 1974 evacuated 900 British nationals from Cyprus during the fighting between the Greek and Turkish forces.
25 Feb. 1975 sailed from Devonport. Returned Devonport 28 November 1975 for dry-docking refit and maintenance. Conversion to helicopter/VTOL carrier with amphibious capability.
Trials with Harrier aircraft and later on trials with prototype Sea Harriers.
From 1980 to June 1981 refit at Devonport, a 12-degree ski jump and facilities for operating Sea Harriers added.
She served in the Falklands as flagship of the Task Force from 5 April to 21 July 1982, with Lynx and 16 RAF Sea Harriers added to the air group.
Early 1983 Exercises in Norway_USA and Mediterranean waters.
December 1983 refit in Devonport.
12 April 1984 paid off, stricken 01 July 1985. After the refit bought by India on 19 April 1986 and renamed INS VIRAAT (R22).
12 May 1987 commissioned in the India Navy. And formally commissioned 15 February 1989.
She carriers now 12 or 18 Sea Harriers V/STOL fighters and seven or eight Sea King or Kamov ‘Hormone’ ASW helicopters. She retains her commando transport capability for 750 troops and she carries 4 LCVP landing craft aft. Has a crew of 1350 including 143 officers with the air group.
Armament 2 – 40mm Bofor AA guns. 2 – 30mm Gatling guns used for anti-ship missile protections.
Barak 2 x Short Secat SAM quad launchers system has been fitted.
The engine room got flooded during September 1993 which put the vessel out of service for a long period.
Returned to service in 1995.
1999 She underwent a US$71.4 million modernization at a Cochin shipyard and she made trials in December 2000, with her refit completed in May 2001.
She took part in the International Fleet Review in Mumbai on 17 February 2001.
During March 2002 was she leading a fleet of Indian naval vessels for a goodwill visit to the Persian Gulf.

She will be in service until 2010, and is the only Indian remaining carrier.

As HMS HERMES on Falkland Islands 1983 50p sg 457.
As VIRAAT on India 2005 5.00r.

Source: http://www.twogreens.com/navy/hermes/herm.html http://www.globalsecuruty.org/military/ ... viraat.htm http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/hermes2.html
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/News ... 2-Mar.html

[Arturo]

HMS Hermes

Falkland Islands 1983, S.G.: 457, Scott: 378.

[aukepalmhof]

INS VIRAAT, the oldest aircraft carrier in the world and the second carrier to be operated by the Indian Navy, arrived at the Cochin Shipyard for its decommissioning refit on Thursday. Sailing from Mumbai on its own steam for the last time, the carrier will undergo a month-long decommissioning refit for about a month and a half from the first week of August before being towed back to Mumbai for the decommissioning ceremony. The Hindu had reported in February 2015 about the Navy’s decision to retire the 57-year-old behemoth that has served two navies — the Royal Navy as HMS HERMES and the Indian Navy since February 1987. It proved its mettle in the Falklands War and was mobilized for action during Operation Parakram. During the 14 short, normal, and medium refits it received at the Cochin Shipyard since 1991, the carrier received renewed agility and an amazing extension of its operational life. The Navy was thinking of retiring the carrier before 2010, the delayed induction of the refurbished carrier from Russia, INS VIKRAMADITYA, compelled it to flog the old warhorse for a few more years. The last life extension it got was in 2008, but its integral fleet of Sea Harrier jump jets were getting increasingly unserviceable. The Navy has bid adieu to the Sea Harriers now and towards the end of this year 2016), INS VIRAAT will be taken out of service. Its future, however, remains undecided, but there’s a strong proposal to convert it into a museum of maritime history. The short decommissioning refit will see blanking of all underwater openings on VIRAAT, basically rendering it defunct. The propeller, rudder and stern tube will all be taken off in the refit.

Source: The Hindu

stricken 6.3.17 - BU Aliaga 22.9.20, work began 28.9.20 [Shree Ram Green Ship Recycling]

Mozambique 2018 300MT sg?, Scott?
India 2016 5.00R sg3124, Scott? (the submarine in the foreground is the CHARKA.)