After the second World War the Royal Netherlands Navy owned two aircraft carriers, both of which bore the name HNLMS “Karel Doorman”. The first ship of that name was an auxiliary aircraft carrier, the former HMS “Nairana”, so an aircraft carrier laid down as a merchant ship, the second was a so-called light aircraft carrier. The second HNLMS “Karel Doorman” was the former HMS “VENERABLE”, one of the 10 light aircraft carriers of the “GLORYII” class.
During the Second World War, the Royal Navy lost a lot of personnel and equipment. After the liberation, the naval force had to be rebuilt. The navy had learned from the naval combat in the 1940s and saw that the aircraft carrier in particular was a weapon with unprecedented potential. The naval leadership had in mind a large navy that could protect the Dutch merchant navy itself in a future conflict.
The Dutch East Indies also belonged to the areas that the Royal Navy had to protect.It was therefore clear that the rebuilt navy would have to have aircraft carriers. This made the Netherlands the seventh country in the world with an aircraft carrier.
Karel Doorman (QH1)
HMS Nairana (D05) was the lead ship of the Royal Navy’s Nairana-class escort carriers that saw service in the Second World War. She was built Scotland. When construction started in 1941 she was intended as a merchant ship, but was completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service at the end of 1943. She survived the war, and in 1946 she was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy as the HNLMS Karel Doorman (QH1), the first Dutch aircraft carrier. A few years later in 1948, she was replaced in the Dutch Navy by another vessel of the same name. The HMS Nairana was returned to the Royal Navy, and sold to become the merchant ship Port Victor.
Karel Doorman R81
The aircraft carrier HNLMS. Karel Doorman (R81) is one of the best-known Dutch naval ships. It was originally built as HMS Venerable of the British Colossus class. The “Dikke Boot” as it was popularly called, was the second aircraft carrier of the Royal Netherlands Navy, earlier (1946-1948) an aircraft carrier was borrowed from the British and sailed under the same name.
The HNLMS Karel Doorman was first sailed to the yard of the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (RDM) in 1948 for a first renovation that would last nine months.During this renovation, the accommodation was mainly improved. Changes were made to the deck of the ship, the flight deck, in such a way that it could also accommodate the fastest aircraft. For example, two brake cables were added and the existing eight brake cables plus safety nets were adapted. The flight control center was not overlooked and after the renovation it met the requirements of the time.Under the flight deck, in the hangar, there was room for 12 fighter aircraft and 24 reconnaissance aircraft.
In 1960, she was involved in the decolonization conflict in Dutch New Guinea with Indonesia. After this conflict her role was changed in the mid 1960s to anti-submarine warfare carrier. The ship was sold in 1968 after the ship was seriously damaged by fire. Otherwise the R81 would have been withdrawn from service a few years later. She was sold to Argentina in 1969 and became ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, which took part in the Falklands war.
