The Audacious class aircraft carriers were a class of ship proposed by the British government in the 1930s - 1940s.

History

The Audacious class was originally designed as an expansion of the Implacable class

Implacable class aircraft carrier

The Implacable class was a class of aircraft carrier employed by the Royal Navy in the second half of Second World War. The class design was derived from the .- Design :...

 with double storied hangars. However, it was realised that the hangar height would not be sufficient for the new aircraft that were expected to enter service, so the design was considerably enlarged.

Four ships were laid down between 1942 and 1943 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as part of the British naval buildup - Africa, Ark Royal, Audacious and Eagle. At the end of hostilities Africa and Eagle were cancelled. Work on the remaining two was suspended. They would be renamed and built to differing designs in the 1950s.

As the builds of Audacious (Renamed Eagle) and Ark Royal progressed they differed so much that they effectively became the lead (and sole) ships of each of their own classes. They formed the backbone of the postwar carrier fleet, and were much modified.

Ships In Class

HMS Eagle

HMS Eagle (R05)

HMS Eagle was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, in service 1951-1972. With her sister ship , she is one of the two largest British aircraft carriers yet built....

 (R05) (Commissioned October 1951) (Ex-HMS Audacious)
Laid down in 1942 at Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....

, Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 as HMS Audacious. Renamed at the start of 1946 as HMS Eagle after the carrier sunk in 1942. Launched in March 1946. Decommissioned January 1972.

HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (R09)

HMS Ark Royal was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1978, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier...

 (R09) (Commissioned 1955)

Named after the third Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (91)

HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...

, lost in 1942. Work on HMS Ark Royal started in 1943 at Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

, Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

. Launched in 1950. Decommissioned February 1979.

HMS Eagle
Ordered from Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

, Wallsend-on-Tyne in August 1942.
Transferred to Vickers-Armstrong in December that year.
Cancelled.

HMS Africa
Ordered from Fairfield, Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

 on 12 July 1943. Re-ordered as Malta Class

Malta class aircraft carrier

The Malta class aircraft carrier was a British large fleet aircraft carrier design of World War II. Inspired by the strike capability of United States Navy aircraft carriers, the Malta design took onboard several American innovations in hangar design and aircraft operations. Three ships were...

in 1944.
Cancelled 15 October 1945

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