HMS VENERABLE 1945

The Colossus class was developed as a result of a requirement for an intermediate sized-carrier larger than the converted cruisers and C3 cargo ships (commonly known as ‘jeep’ carriers), and the larger fleet carriers. The Colossus class were designed to bridge this gap and were also designed to mercantile standards to allow them to be built in civilian yards. Considered a wartime expedient class with service lives of no more than three years, the Colossus (and later Majestic class, a slightly modified variant) proved to be more versatile for their size than expected. Several served with the Royal Navy after the war ended, but their greatest success was with smaller foreign navies, which purchased these ships after retirement by the RN and modified them for a variety of other purposes, including operating jet aircraft, for which they were modified with angled decks. The last unit of the Colossus class was not retired until 2001, and lasted long enough to be offered on eBay for scrap! The Colossus class is considered one of the most successful aircraft carrier classes ever, behind only the USN’s Nimitz and Essex classes.

HMS Venerable was laid down on 3 December 1942 and commissioned on 17 January 1945. She immediately went to the Far East to join the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron (Colossus, Glory and Vengeance) of the British Pacific Fleet. She carried Corsair fighters and Barracuda torpedo bombers. After the war, Venerable repatriated prisoners of war to Canada and Australia, before returning to the UK. In 1948, she was sold to Holland and entered service as HNLMS Karel Doorman. She suffered a boiler room fire in 1968 and was sold to Argentina and renamed Veinticinco de Mayo. By 1990, she was inoperable but provided spare parts for the Brazilian Minas Gerais (the ex-Vengeance). The remainder of Veinticinco De Mayo was scrapped in Alang, India around 2000.