HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) was a
Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the
Royal Netherlands Navy. Laid down as
HMS Venerable at
Cammell Laird in
Birkenhead on 3 December 1942, launched just over a year later, and commissioned on 17 January 1945.
Overhauls
In 1948,
Venerable's short career in the
Royal Navy came to an end, when it was sold to the
Netherlands, replacing a smaller
Nairana-class escort carrier also named
Karel Doorman while in Dutch service. The
Venerable recommissioned in the Dutch fleet as the
Karel Doorman. In 1955-58 she was rebuilt with an 8° angled flight deck, new elevators, new island, 40 mm anti-aircraft cannons, steam catapult, and all new aviation facilities and electronics were fitted. 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 .
Cruises
The
Karel Doorman, frigate
Johan Maurits van Nassau, and light cruiser
Jacob van Heemskerck made a voyage to the
Dutch Antilles on 2 January 1950. Embarked on the
Karel Doorman was
Prince Bernhard. The ships return to Holland on 4 May.
In 1954 during a
North American cruise she visited
Montreal, Canada for an airshow appearance.
Early in 1959 the ship made a trip to the
United States (
Newport, Rhode Island and
Fort Lauderdale, Florida), after that again to the Antilles.
In 1960 during the Dutch decolonization and planned independence of Western
New Guinea, a territory which was also claimed by
Indonesia, the
Karel Doorman set sail along with two destroyers and a modified oil tanker to "show the flag". In order to avoid possible problems with Indonesian ally Egypt at the
Suez Canal she instead sailed around the horn of Africa. She arrived in
Fremantle, Australia where the local seamen's union struck in sympathy with Indonesia, the crew used 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 fighters to bolster the local Dutch defense forces, which she delivered when she arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea. The Karel Doorman was also to have visited
Yokohama, 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.
The
Karel Doorman also regularly conducted various exercises near Scotland during its career.
During the 1960 crisis
Indonesia prepared for a military action named Operation
Trikora (in the Indonesian language, "Tri Komando Rakyat" means "The Three Commands of the People"). In addition to planning for an invasion the TNI-AU (Indonesian Air Forces) hoped to sink this aircraft carrier with Soviet supplied Indonesian
Tupolev Tu-16KS-1 Badger naval bombers using
AS-1 Kennel / KS-1 Kometa anti ship missiles (6 planes planned to attack the
Karel Doorman). This strike plan was canceled because of the implementation of the cease-fire between Indonesia and the Netherlands which lead to a temporary UN peacekeeping administration and then occupation by 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 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. In 1969, after a boiler-room fire, 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 and renamed ARA
Veinticinco de Mayo where she would later play a role in the 1982
Falkland Islands Conflict. In the late 1960s, the NATO
anti-submarine commitment was taken over by a squadron of
Westland Wasp helicopters operated from six
Van Speijk class anti-submarine frigates and two squadrons of shore based maritine patrol aircraft. These were one squadron of
Breguet Atlantique sea-reconnaissance aircraft and one of
P-2 Neptunes. Both squadrons were later equiped with the Atlantique and even later with
P-3 Orions.
Air Wing
Dutch Grumman S-2 Tracker
First deploying as an attack carrier with 24 WW-II era propeller driven
Fairey Firefly strike fighters and Hawker
Sea Fury fighter/antiship aircraft, for sea rescue a
Supermarine Sea Otter flying boat was carried, it was replaced by a
Sikorsky S-51 helicopter. From 1955-58 she operated with a ASW/Strike profile with up to 14
TBF Avenger ASW/torpedo bombers, 10
Hawker Sea Hawk fighters and 2
S-58 ASW helicopters. In 1960 the Royal Netherlands Navy received 17 Canadian built
S-2 Trackers ASW aircraft formerly used by the Royal Canadian Navy. Changing roles to a dedicated NATO
Antisubmarine warfare carrier, a wing of 8 Grumman
S-2 Trackers and 6
S-58 ASW helicopters served aboard until the 1968 shipboard fire and removal from Dutch service.
The
Hawker Sea Hawk jet strike aircraft, 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, served onboard between 1957 to 1964 until her overhaul after which the attack role was eliminated. 22 aircraft were then transferred to land based reserve storage, they were all retired from service by the end of the 1960s after the sale of the
Karel Doorman to Argentina.
See also
