MBT HrMs aircraft carrier "Karel Doorman" (1948) ex "HMS Venerable" (1942); vÌÎ_ÌÎ_r verb. - Construction drawing Scale 1 : 500 (10.11.047)

Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (1948), an important ship in the history of the Royal Netherlands Navy:

Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (1948)

(ex HMS Venerable R63)

General information

Type:Light fleet carrier

Class: Colossus class

Built by: Cammell Laird, Birkenhead (UK)

Launched: 30 December 1943

Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Venerable: 17 January 1945

Commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy as Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman: 28 May 1948

Technical specifications (after modernisation in 1958)

Displacement: approx. 18,000 tonnes (standard), approx. 24,000 tonnes (full load)

Length: 211 metres

Beam: approx. 34.5 metres (after addition of sloping flight deck)

Draught: approx. 7.3 metres

Propulsion: Steam turbines, 4 propellers

Speed: approx. 25 knots

Crew: approx. 1,300

Aircraft capacity: 20–25 aircraft/helicopters

Aircraft on board

Depending on the period and mission, including:

Hawker Sea Fury (fighter aircraft)

Fairey Firefly (reconnaissance/torpedo bomber)

Hawker Sea Hawk (jet fighter)

Grumman TBF Avenger (torpedo bomber)

Sikorsky S-55 / S-58 (helicopters)

Westland Wasp (light anti-submarine helicopter)

Modernisation 1955–1958

Carried out at RDM (Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij):

Sloping flight deck added

Steam catapult and optical landing aid

New radar and communications equipment

Reinforcement of flight deck for jet aircraft

Operational history

Indonesian conflict: support during decolonisation

NATO exercises in the Atlantic and Mediterranean

Anti-submarine duties during the Cold War

Humanitarian missions and diplomatic visits

End of service in the Netherlands

1968: serious fire in the engine room

Repairs deemed uneconomical

Decommissioned: 29 April 1968

Sold to Argentina: 1969 → renamed ARA Veinticinco de Mayo

Historical significance

Last Dutch aircraft carrier

Important for the transition to helicopter operations and maritime air defence

Symbol of Dutch maritime power in the post-war period

Specifications: