HMS Centaur (R06)

HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to retain the original configuration with a straight axial flight deck rather than the angled flight decks of her three sister ships. She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff; however, she was not launched until 22 April 1947, sometime after World War II had come to a close, due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1 September 1953, a gap of almost nine years from when she was laid down in 1944.

Between 1956–1958, she underwent extensive modernisation with a six degree angled flight deck being added as well as steam catapults and arrestor cables, thereby giving her the ability to operate jet aircraft, such as the Hawker Sea Hawk and de Havilland Sea Venom; and, after the 1960 Portsmouth refit, the de Havilland Sea Vixen and Supermarine Scimitar.These were the minimum of alterations needed to operate these advanced, trans-sonic second generation fighter bombers. Centaur's aircraft operating and servicing areas were smaller and less well-designed, compared with her comprehensively updated half- sister, Hermes. The Scimitar aircraft had been pressed into service without a full development programme, and proved too large and dangerous to use from the Centaur, and in its final years Centaur's only aircraft were the Sea Vixens. However these did not represent an adequate counter to the threat of low level Mig 17,19 and 21 strike. Significantly, the Centaur was withdrawn at the time of the Indonesian confrontation.

In 1959 HMS Centaur was used during the making of the film Sink the Bismarck! to depict flight operations from both HMS Victorious and HMS ''Ark Royal; (she is clearly marked with her post-war pennant number R06 in both scenes). Three surviving Fairey Swordfish biplanes were restored and flown from her decks, and scenes were also shot on the bridge of the carrier, and in the aircrew briefing room.

Operations
In June 1961, President Abd al-Karim Qasim of Iraq announced that Kuwait would be annexed by Iraq; the Emir of Kuwait requested assistance from the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The UK activated Operation Vantage and immediately sent HMS Victorious (R38) and accompanying vessels. HMS Bulwark landed a company of 42 Commando, Royal Marines at Kuwait airport. HMS Centaur arrived later to relieve Victorious. Iraq recognised Kuwaiti sovereignty in 1963, after Kassim had been killed in a coup.

During the crisis in Aden, from 1963 onwards, Sea Vixens from HMS Centaur launched strikes on rebellious tribesmen in the Radfan during Operation Damon. In 1964, a mutiny occurred in Tanganyika. The 1st Tanganyika Rifles, who were based near the capital Dar-es-Salaam, had mutinied against their British officers, as well as seizing the British High Commissioner and taking over the airport. Britain decided, after urgent appeals for help, to deploy Centaur accompanied by 815 Naval Air Squadron along with 45 Commando, Royal Marines. When HMS Centaur arrived at Dar-es-Salaam, a company of Royal Marines were landed by helicopter on a football field, next to the barracks of the mutineers. The company assaulted the barracks with full force in a chaotic but swift attack, securing the entrance to the barracks. After a call for the mutinous soldiers to surrender failed, the company demolished the front of the guardroom, with a deftly placed shot from an anti-tank rocket launcher. The culmination of the decision proved successful, with a large number of distressed soldiers pouring out into the open. Later on, four Sea Vixens from Centaur provided cover for more Royal Marines, who were now landing on an air strip. The operation was a success and the rest of the mutineers soon surrendered, with the main culprits being arrested. Many Tanganyikans were jubilant when the country was restored to a stable and peaceful environment. The Royal Marine Band displayed the British forces appreciation of the happy welcoming that they had received from the Tanganyikans while attempting to restore the country to stability, by taking part in a heavy schedule of marches through the streets of Tanganyika. HMS Centaur left on 29 January, nine days after originally sailing for what was then a country in crisis.

The following year, conversion to a commando carrier, like her sister-ships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, was cancelled, due to growing constraints on the defence budget and the political decision, that the alternative of scrapping Tiger class cruisers that were only five years old and had been updated at massive expense, was politically too embarrassing. It is arguable conversion of Centaur to an anti submarine carrier would have been more relevant given the new NATO focus of the time, however she was consigned to the role of accommodation ship for the crew of HMS Victorious while the latter ship undertook a refit. In 1966, Centaur was again an accommodation ship, this time for HMS Eagle, while that ship was going through a refit. In 1970, she was towed to Devonport where she would await her fate for a further two years when finally she was towed to Cairnryan and broken up.