The British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945As a follow-up to the highly regarded British Pacific Fleet, David Hobbs looks at the post-World War II fortunes of the most powerful fleet in the Royal Navy—its decline in the face of diminishing resources, its final fall at the hands of ignorant politicians, and its recent resurrection in the form of the Queen Elizabeth class carriers, the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Despite prophecies that nuclear weapons would make conventional forces obsolete, British carrier-borne aircraft were almost continuously employed. The Royal Navy faced new challenges in places like Korea, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf. During these trials the Royal Navy invented techniques and devices crucial to modern carrier operations, pioneering novel forms of warfare tactics for countering insurgency and terrorism. This book combines narratives of poorly understood operations with clear analysis of their strategic and political background. With beautiful illustrations and original research, British Carrier Strike Fleet tells an important but largely untold story of renewed significance as Britain once again embraces carrier operation. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 30 | |
3 Assistance for Commonwealth Navies | 76 |
4 Invention Innovation New Aircraft and Rebuilt Ships | 89 |
5 Cold War NATO and the Middle East | 117 |
6 A Royal Occasion and the Radical Review | 142 |
7 The Suez Crisis | 162 |
8 New Equipment and Another Defence Review | 206 |
14 The Cancellation of CVA01 | 386 |
15 Rundown of the Carrier Force | 416 |
16 Capability the Beira Patrol Aden and Belize | 445 |
17 Small Carriers and Vertical Landing | 461 |
18 The South Atlantic War | 490 |
19 A Decade of Operations | 522 |
20 New Defence Reviews Carriers and Aircraft | 540 |
21 Reflections | 569 |
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Common terms and phrases
42 Commando Admiral Admiralty Air Force air group aircraft carriers aircrew airfield airframe amphibious anti-submarine Ark Royal ashore attack Author’s collection aviation bombers bombs British Aircraft Buccaneer capability carried catapult commando carrier cost deck landing Defence Review deployed destroyers Eagle embarked enemy engine equipment escort cruiser fighters fire Firefly fitted Fleet Air Arm flew flight deck flown flying frigate fuel Gannet Government guns hangar helicopters Hermes Invincible joint Korean large numbers launch Lieutenant Commander light fleet carriers missile naval air Naval Staff Navy nuclear officers Operation Musketeer operations patrol pilots radar replacement RNAS rocket role Royal Marines Sea Fury Sea Harrier Sea Hawk Sea King Sea Venom Sea Vixen ship’s ships sorties Soviet speed squadrons STOVL strike aircraft strike fleet submarine tactical take-off target task force unit warships weapons Wessex wing