Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Aircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans
    Aircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans
    Aircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Aircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans

    By David Hobbs

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the as fitted general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsmans art.Today they form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design.HMS Victorious was a ship with two almost separate incarnations as built in 1941 she was one of a new type of armoured carrier which saw strenuous wartime service; post-war the ship underwent a massive reconstruction lasting nearly eight years that saw her recommission in1958 as one of the best equipped carriers in the world, ready for another decade of duty. Both these phases of the ships life are fully documented, which allows this novel form of anatomy to cover two generations of carrier design.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateSep 30, 2018
    ISBN9781526737359
    Aircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans

    Read more from David Hobbs

    Related to Aircraft Carrier Victorious

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Shipbreaking At Faslane

      Sep 25, 2020

      Shipbreaking At Faslane
      6 min read

    • Article

      Into Cold Air

      Feb 16, 2021

      Into Cold Air
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Glorious ‘Stringbag’

      Jan 1, 2019

      The Glorious ‘Stringbag’
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fairey Swordfish

      Apr 11, 2024

      Fairey Swordfish
      3 min read

    • Article

      3 The Big Conversions

      Jun 24, 2022

      3 The Big Conversions
      7 min read

    • Article

      United Kingdom

      Aug 27, 2021

      United Kingdom
      7 min read

    • Article

      5 The Post-1945 Era

      Jun 24, 2022

      5 The Post-1945 Era
      9 min read

    • Article

      Biii Special Avro Lancaster

      May 11, 2023

      Biii Special Avro Lancaster
      3 min read

    • Article

      De Havilland Dh98 Mosquito

      Oct 2, 2017

      De Havilland Dh98 Mosquito
      4 min read

    • Article

      De Havilland Vampire

      Nov 23, 2023

      The de Havilland Vampire was built to a 1941 requirement for a jet interceptor, issued against a fear that Germany would develop jet bombers. It first flew in September 1943, and entered frontline service in 1946 with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Initi

      3 min read

    • Article

      County Class cruiser

      Jan 18, 2024

      The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, signed by the Allied maritime powers, was intended to prevent a naval arms race similar to that which had precipitated the First World War. The treaty restricted the building of capital ships and limited heavy cru

      3 min read

    • Article

      Wwii

      Jan 23, 2020

      Wwii
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sub hunters

      Dec 28, 2023

      Sub hunters
      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘Standard Fast’

      Jul 24, 2020

      ‘Standard Fast’
      6 min read

    • Article

      Weight Watcher

      Feb 26, 2024

      Weight Watcher
      7 min read

    • Article

      Greyhounds Of The Fleet

      Feb 24, 2023

      Greyhounds Of The Fleet
      5 min read

    • Article

      County Class Cruisers

      Sep 30, 2022

      County Class Cruisers
      3 min read

    • Article

      Battle Class Destroyers

      Oct 27, 2023

      Battle Class Destroyers
      3 min read

    • Article

      Carrier Combat Aircraft

      Aug 26, 2022

      Carrier Combat Aircraft
      11 min read

    • Article

      Curtiss Sb2c Helldiver

      Nov 24, 2022

      Curtiss Sb2c Helldiver
      3 min read

    • Article

      France’s Big Boat

      Nov 23, 2021

      France’s Big Boat
      3 min read

    • Article

      Seven Proud Decades

      Apr 13, 2023

      By the end of the Second World War, Britain’s Royal Navy was at the peak of its powers, emerging victorious despite immense adversity in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Atlantic theatres. However, this supremacy on the waves was followed by a period o

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Little Aircraft That Could

      Dec 24, 2019

      The Little Aircraft That Could
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Nazis Are Coming!

      Apr 23, 2020

      The Nazis Are Coming!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Supermarine Walrus

      Oct 29, 2020

      Supermarine Walrus
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Aircraft Carrier Victorious

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Aircraft Carrier Victorious - David Hobbs

      AIRCRAFT CARRIER

      VICTORIOUS

      Half title image: The badge for HMS Victorious is the figure of Nike, the classical winged Goddess of Victory holding aloft the laurel wreaths of triumph. The ship’s motto Per coelum et aequorum victrix translates as ‘Through air and sea victorious’.

      Frontispiece:Part of the profile, as fitted, 1941. (M0625)

      Copyright © Seaforth Publishing 2018

      Plans copyright © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2018

      This edition first published in Great Britain in 2018 by

      Seaforth Publishing,

      An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

      47 Church Street,

      Barnsley

      South Yorkshire S70 2AS

      www.seaforthpublishing.com

      Email: info@seaforthpublishing.com

      Published in association with Royal Museums Greenwich,

      the group name for the National Maritime Museum,

      Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and the Queen's House

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      ISBN 978 1 5267 3734 2 (Hardback)

      Mobi ISBN 978 1 5267 3736 6 (Kindle)

      eISBN 978 1 5267 3735 9 (ePub)

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

      CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      Design

      Operating Aircraft

      Loan to the US Navy

      Wartime Modifications

      DECK PLANS, AS FITTED, 1941

      Bridge Structure, Navigating & Control Positions

      Flight Deck

      Upper and Lower Gallery Decks

      Hangar Deck and Upper Deck

      Main Deck and Lower Deck

      Platform Deck and Hold

      ENLARGED PROFILE AND SECTIONS, AS FITTED, 1941

      Stern to Station 168¼

      Station 168¼ to Station 161

      Station 161to Station 150

      Station 150 to Station 132

      Station 132 to Station 119

      Station 119 to Station 109

      Station 109 to Station 92

      Station 92 to Station 69

      Station 69 to Station 52

      Station 52 to Station 33

      Station 33 to Station 15

      Station 15 to Bow

      ENLARGED DECKS, AS FITTED, 1941

      Flight Deck

      Upper Gallery Deck

      Lower Gallery Deck

      Hangar Deck

      Upper Deck

      GATEFOLD PLANS

      Profile, as fitted, 1941

      Profile, as fitted, 1958

      Flight Deck, 1958

      MODERNISATION

      ENLARGED PROFILE AND SECTIONS, AS FITTED, 1958

      Stern to Station 168

      Station 168 to Station 145

      Station 145 to Station 130

      Station 130 to Station 105

      Station 105 to Station 80

      Station 80 to Station 65

      Station 65 to Station 57

      Station 57 to Station 40

      Station 40 to Station 17

      Station 17 to Bow

      ENLARGED DECKS, AS FITTED, 1958

      Island Decks

      Flight Deck, Aft

      Flight Deck, Forward

      No 2 Deck, Aft

      No 2 Deck, Forward

      No 2 Deck, Aft

      No 2 Deck, Forward

      No 3 Deck, Aft

      No 3 Deck, Forward

      No 4 Deck, Aft

      No 4 Deck, Forward

      No 5 Deck, Aft

      No 5 Deck, Forward

      No 6 Deck, Aft

      No 6 Deck, Forward

      No 7 Deck, Aft

      No 7 Deck, Forward

      No 8 Deck, Aft

      No 8 Deck, Forward

      No 9 Deck, Aft

      No 9 Deck, Forward

      SKETCH OF RIG, AS FITTED, 1958

      Starboard and Port Side Profiles

      Plan

      LATER REFITS

      No 4 (Hangar) Deck, 1966

      No 1 (Flight) Deck, 1966

      BIBLIOGRAPHY

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      LIST OF PLANS

      ORIGINAL DESIGN

      The shortcomings of the Royal Navy’s first generation of aircraft carriers, most of them conversions from other types of vessel begun during the Great War, had been clearly appreciated by the early 1930s and design work on potential replacements begun. These reflected new generations of aircraft and more efficient means of operating them and, despite the delays imposed by various treaty restrictions and the financial crash, a single fleet carrier, Ark Royal , had been laid down in September 1935. In 1936 the quantitative limitation on carrier tonnage imposed by the Washington Treaty was to lapse and operational experience had been gained with the fleet deployments associated with the Abyssinian Crisis in 1935, but any further carriers would still have to be designed within the standard displacement of 23,000 tons agreed internationally at the London Naval Conference. By then the British Government had recognised that a simultaneous war against Germany, Italy and Japan was a distinct possibility and a major programme of re-armament was authorised. The warship construction programme authorised for 1936 included 2 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships and 7 cruisers but the Aircraft Carrier Section of Directorate of Naval Construction, DNC, under W A D Forbes was still heavily committed to preparing detailed drawings for Ark Royal , leaving little spare capacity for new design work.Therefore, forward plans in 1935 had assumed that the next fleet carriers would be improved repeats of Ark Royal together with several smaller trade protection carriers capable of embarking about 12 aircraft and intended to work with cruiser-led hunting groups. However, neither option was acceptable to Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, Third Sea Lord and Controller who had, since 1934, been the Admiralty Board member responsible for new construction. Although he was not a pilot, he had commanded Furious and served as the first Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers from 1931 to 1933.A staunch advocate of integrating aircraft into modern fleet operations, he had greater knowledge of both naval air warfare and practical carrier tactics than his Board colleagues.

      He believed that war was inevitable and that aircraft carriers would have to operate in the confined waters of the Mediterranean and North Seas under enemy attack with little or no support from the RAF; but unlike battleships or cruisers their primary weapons, the aircraft, had no protection against battle damage. Henderson’s solution to this perceived failing was an armoured hangar and the ships that emerged under his forceful direction were referred to as ‘armoured carriers’. This was a loose term, however, because previous carriers, including Ark

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1