Concept/Program: A seaplane carrier intended to provide trade protection and coast defense services.
Design: Large raised forecastle served as a seaplane deck, with hangar beneath. Several cranes, and a catapult was fitted on deck.
Departure from Service/Disposal: Transferred to RN in 1938 as partial payment for the new cruiser Hobart.
To reserve for refit 12/1931; recommissioned 1932 as a gunnery training ship. Decommissioned to reserve 26 April 1933 but still employed as a dockside seaplane support ship. Used for various trials 1936. Transferred to RN 1938, recommissioned for voyage to UK 19 April 1938. Commissioned in RN service as HMS Albatross (I22) 29 September 1938, served as a trials ship. Decommissioned to reserve 15 Dec 1938 and used as an accommodations ship until recommissioned 25 August 1939. Operated as a trade protection ship off West Africa and in the Indian Ocean.
Decommissioned to reserve 5 November 1943, then converted to a repair ship for escorts and minesweepers and recommissioned 17 April 1944; rearmed with 8 2 pound AA and 6 20 mm.
Torpedoed 11 Aug 1944; judged not worth repairing. Placed in reserve 30 August 1944 but recommissioned as a minesweeper depot hulk 11/1944. To reserve for disposal 7/1945. Sold for conversion to a luxury cruise ship in 1946 but conversion plans cancelled and resold as Hellenic Prince in 1948, becoming an refuge transport ship. Scrapped at Hong Kong starting 12 August 1954.
Concept/Program: An ex-RN light fleet carrier transferred to Australia after WWII, prior to completion. She was little modified prior to completion or in RAN service. She saw extensive service off Korea, but was soon rendered obsolete and reduced to secondary duties and replaced by Melbourne.
Departure from Service/Disposal: Decommissioned in 1958, then converted as a fast military transport in 1961, for service as a ferry to Vietnam.
Operated as light fleet carrier. Saw extensive service during the Korean war. Major modernization scheduled for 1954 cancelled. Replaced by Melbourne; served as training carrier after 1955. Placed in reserve 1958; modified as a fast military transport 1961-62 for ferry service to Vietnam; armament was reduced, aircraft facilities removed, heavy cranes fitted, redesignated A214.
Decommissioned 1973. Sold 30 October 1975 and scrapped in South Korea.
Concept/Program: A RN light fleet carrier loaned 1952-1955, pending completion of Melbourne.
Modifications: She was not modified in RAN service.
Departure from Service/Disposal: Returned to RN upon completion of Melbourne and eventually sold to Brazil.
Initially served as a training carrier, then a first-line carrier starting late 1953, then returned to training in 1954. Decommissioned and returned to RN 13 Aug 1955 and placed in reserve upon return.
Sold to Brazil 13 Dec 1956; underwent extensive refit at Rotterdam 6/1957-12/1960: angled deck added, new elevators installed, new island, all new aircraft operations and support equipment and electronics outfit; carried 10 40 mm guns. Recommissioned 6 December 1960 as Minas Gerais (A11). First operated as a strike/ASW carrier, then as an ASW-only ship.
Refitted 1976-1980 but laid up 1987 due to catapult problems. Refitted 1991-1993, recommissioned 10/1993; catapult repaired by 1996. During the 1990's operated only ASW helicopters, due to lack of suitable fixed-wing aircraft. Mistral SAM fitted to replace AA guns in 1994. Scheduled to serve through 2005.
Concept/Program: An ex-RN light fleet carrier, suspended incomplete at the end of WWII, sold to Australia and completed to a modernized design. Originally a sister of HMS Terrible (which became HMAS Sydney). Replaced Sydney; was the major unit of the RAN for nearly 30 years.
Design: Completed to an extensively modernized design, with an angled deck, modified island, and many other improvements over the original design.
Modifications: Underwent a series of evolutionary upgrades and refits for new missions.
Departure from Service/Disposal: Retired in 1982 without replacement; purchase of a RN VSTOL carrier as a replacement was cancelled.
Embarked ASW helicopters in 1963. Rammed and sank destroyer HMAS Voyager 10 Feb 1964. Refitted 22 Nov 1967 to 24 Nov 1968 and embarked additional ASW assets. Rammed and sank destroyer USS Frank E. Evans 2 June 1969. Flight deck strengthened and catapult rebuilt in 1971. Starting in 1972 she carried primarily an ASW air group, with a small light strike force. Refitted 11/1972 to 7/1973, again in 1978 for service through 1985.
Laid up in contingent reserve 30 June 1982. Sold for scrapping in China in 1985 Reportedly still in existence in 1994 at Guangzhou, China, being studied by Chinese naval architects.
