HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81)
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HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (R81) ( Dutch: Hr.Ms. ''Karel Doorman'' (R81)) was a of the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
. Formerly the British ship , she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier. In 1960, she was involved in the
West New Guinea dispute The West New Guinea dispute (1950–1962), also known as the West Irian dispute, was a diplomatic and political conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia over the territory of Dutch New Guinea. While the Netherlands had ceded sovereignty o ...
with
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. In the mid 1960s, her role was changed to
anti-submarine warfare carrier An anti-submarine warfare carrier (ASW carrier) (US hull classification symbol CVS) is a type of small aircraft carrier whose primary role is as the nucleus of an anti-submarine warfare hunter-killer group. This type of ship came into existence d ...
and only ASW aircraft and helicopters were carried. An engine room fire took her out of service in 1968. She was sold to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
in 1969 and renamed .


Purchase

Built at
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
in
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
on 3 December 1942, ''Venerable'' was launched just over a year later and commissioned on 17 January 1945. In 1948, ''Venerable''s short career in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
came to an end when she was sold to the Netherlands and recommissioned as HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'', replacing a smaller of the same name while in Dutch service. In 1955-58 she was rebuilt with an 8° angled flight deck, new elevators, new island, 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, steam catapult, and all new aviation facilities and electronics were fitted, including a Dutch-built new radar. At the same time, a similar Dutch rebuild was done to her sister ship, the .


Cruises

''Karel Doorman'', frigate ''Johan Maurits van Nassau'', and light cruiser ''Jacob van Heemskerck'' made a voyage to the
Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...
on 2 January 1950. Embarked on ''Karel Doorman'' was Prince Bernhard. The ships returned to the Netherlands on 4 May. In 1954, during a North American cruise, she visited
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada for an air show appearance. Early in 1959 the ship made a trip to the United States (
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
and
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
) and then continued on to visit the Antilles again. In 1960, during the Dutch decolonization and planned independence of Western
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, a territory which was also
claimed "Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the The Walking Dead season 4, fourth season of the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Horror fiction, horror television series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'', wh ...
by
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, ''Karel Doorman'' set sail along with two destroyers and a modified oil tanker to "show the flag". In order to avoid possible problems with Indonesia's ally Egypt at the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, she instead sailed around the Horn of Africa. She arrived in
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
, Australia, where the local seamen's union went on strike in sympathy with Indonesia; the crew used the propeller thrust of aircraft chained down on deck to nudge the carrier into dock without tugs. In addition to her air wing, she was ferrying twelve
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...
fighters to bolster the local Dutch defence forces, which she delivered when she arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea. ''Karel Doorman'' was also to have visited
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
, Japan during this Asian cruise to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the establishment of Japanese-Dutch diplomatic relations but, due to Indonesian and local protests, Japan withdrew its invitation. After the 1964 refit, ''Karel Doorman'' served the rest of her career mostly conducting NATO anti-submarine patrols in the north Atlantic, no longer carrying strike or fighter aircraft as part of her regular air wing. ''Karel Doorman'' also regularly conducted various exercises near Scotland during her career.


Western New Guinea Crisis

During the 1960 crisis,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
prepared for a military action named
Operation Trikora Operation Trikora () was a combined Soviet– Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the Dutch overseas territory of New Guinea in 1961 and 1962. After negotiations, the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement with Ind ...
. For an invasion, the Indonesian Air Forces (TNI-AU) hoped to sink this aircraft carrier with Soviet-supplied Tupolev Tu-16KS-1 Badger naval bombers using AS-1 Kennel / KS-1 Kometa anti-ship missiles (six planes were intended for the attack on ''Karel Doorman''). This bomber launched missile strike mission was cancelled because of the ceasefire between Indonesia and the Netherlands; this led to a Dutch withdrawal and United Nations temporary peacekeeping administration followed by handover of Western New Guinea to Indonesia.


Decommissioning

In 1964, following the settlement of issues threatening its former colonial territories and changes in the mission for the Royal Netherlands Navy within
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
, coupled with the huge costs for operating and maintaining an aircraft carrier, it was decided to withdraw her from the operational fleet by the early 1970s. This was to coincide with the arrival of long range maritime patrol aircraft that were to take over the ASW role ''Karel Doorman'' had been tasked to perform ever since the start of the 1960s. A boiler room fire on 26 April 1968 removed her from Dutch service. To repair the fire damage, new boilers were transplanted from the incomplete , at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam. In 1969, it was decided that the costs for repairing the damage in relation to the relatively short time ''Karel Doorman'' was still to serve in the fleet proved to be her undoing and she was sold to the
Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...
, renamed '' Veinticinco de Mayo'', where she would later play a role in the 1982
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. In the late 1960s, the NATO
anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...
commitment was taken over by a squadron of Westland Wasp helicopters operated from six anti-submarine frigates and two squadrons of shore based maritime patrol aircraft. These were one squadron of Breguet Atlantique sea-reconnaissance aircraft and one of P-2 Neptunes.


Air wing

First deploying as an attack carrier with 24 World War II era propeller driven Fairey Firefly strike fighters and Hawker Sea Fury fighters, for sea rescue a Supermarine Sea Otter flying boat was carried, it was replaced by a Sikorsky S-51 helicopter. From 1958, she operated with an ASW/Strike profile with up to 14
Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...
ASW/torpedo bombers, 10 Hawker Sea Hawk fighters (a first generation naval jet fighter considered by the larger naval powers to be undersized and nearly obsolete at the time of delivery to the Dutch) and 2 Sikorsky S-55 ASW helicopters. In 1960, the Royal Netherlands Navy received 17 Canadian built Grumman S-2 Tracker ASW aircraft formerly used by the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
. Changing roles to a dedicated NATO
antisubmarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations a ...
carrier, a wing of 8 Grumman S-2 Trackers and 6
Sikorsky S-58 The Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is an American Reciprocating engine, piston-engined military utility helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky Aircraft, Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States ...
ASW helicopters served aboard from 1961 until the 1968 shipboard fire and removal from Dutch service. From 1959, Dutch Sea Hawks were equipped with Sidewinder missiles that significantly enhanced and extended their air-to-air combat capabilities. While never engaged in combat, the aircraft were present as a carrier based deterrent during the 1962 New Guinea Indonesia crisis. They served aboard between 1957 and 1964 until ''Karel Doorman''s overhaul, after which the attack role was eliminated and 22 aircraft were transferred to land based reserve storage - they were all retired from service by the end of the 1960s after the sale of ''Karel Doorman'' to Argentina.


See also

*
List of aircraft carriers This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves as ...


References


Bibliography

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External links


HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) in HD Color 1963

This is HMS Karel Doorman




{{DEFAULTSORT:Karel Doorman (R81) Colossus-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Netherlands Navy Ships built on the River Mersey 1943 ships