HMS Venerable (R63): The Carrier That Ended Up in the Falklands War, Just Not on Britain's Side

Built in Record Time

HMS Venerable was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, laid down in December 1942, launched on 30 December 1943 and commissioned on 17 January 1945, a Colossus-class light fleet carrier completed in a notably brisk twenty-five months, a reflection of just how urgently the Royal Navy needed more carrier capacity in the war's final stretch.

Accepting Japan's Surrender at Hong Kong

Venerable joined the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron with Corsair fighters and Barracuda torpedo bombers embarked, deploying to the Far East and arriving in Australia in July 1945.

When Japan surrendered, Venerable took part in accepting the Japanese surrender at Hong Kong on 2 September 1945, her aircraft engaging enemy suicide boats while landing parties helped restore British control, before she spent the following months on repatriation duties.

Sold to the Netherlands

Returning to Britain in March 1947 and decommissioning that April, Venerable was purchased by the Royal Netherlands Navy in April 1948 and renamed HNLMS Karel Doorman, serving the Dutch fleet for two decades until a serious fire in 1968 forced her to be laid up.

An Argentine Carrier in the Falklands War

After repairs, the ship was sold on to Argentina and recommissioned as ARA Veinticinco de Mayo.

In one of the more curious footnotes of naval history, this former Royal Navy carrier remained active in Argentine service during the 1982 Falklands War, though she withdrew from operations after the sinking of the General Belgrano, meaning a ship built for the Royal Navy found herself, decades later and under a different flag, on the opposite side of a conflict fought over British territory.

Scrapped in India

By 1988, deteriorating machinery had ended the old carrier's active career, and she subsequently provided spare parts for her Argentine sister ship before finally being scrapped at the Alang ship-breaking yard in India in 2000, bringing to a close a remarkably long and geopolitically eventful career spanning three navies.