The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

built three aircraft maintenance carriers for its Fleet Air Arm before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The

Abyssinia Crisis The Abyssinia Crisis (; ) was an international crisis in 1935 that originated in what was called the Walwal incident during the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia (then commonly known as "Abyssinia"). The Leag ...

of 1934–35 demonstrated to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

that it needed a

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

to support the aircraft carriers in active service, just like

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

and

destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

s supported those types. Begun just before the start of World War II in 1939, was the first ship built in any navy that could "carry out the full range of aircraft maintenance and repair work in addition to the ability to operate aircraft from the flight deck". ''Unicorn'' proved the value of the concept and two similar support ships, and were converted into aircraft maintenance ships by modifying

light carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one-h ...

s while still under construction.Friedman, pp. 237, 239 Unlike ''Unicorn'', neither ''Pioneer'' nor ''Perseus'' were able to land aircraft; they had to be craned aboard. ''Unicorn'' was used as a light carrier in 1943 before she was sent to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

in 1944 where she was used in her designed role. ''Pioneer'' arrived the following year to support the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...

(BPF). ''Perseus'' arrived in the Pacific after the end of the war. All three ships were placed in reserve upon their return to the UK in 1946. ''Unicorn'' was recommissioned before the start of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

for use as a ferry carrier, but was used in her designed role during the war. ''Pioneer'' was recommissioned in 1950 to test new carrier equipment and then became a ferry carrier. ''Perseus'' was never recommissioned and all three ships were sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

during the 1950s.

Key

HMS ''Unicorn''

HMS ''Unicorn'' was an aircraft repair ship built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. The ship was initially completed as a

light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one-h ...

and provided air cover over the amphibious landing at Salerno, Italy, in September 1943. The ship converted back into a maintenance ship afterwards and she was transferred to the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

in the Indian Ocean at the end of the year. ''Unicorn'' supported the aircraft carriers of the fleet on their operations until the BPF was formed in November 1944. She was transferred to Australia in early 1945 to support the BPF's operations during

Operation Iceberg Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the Allied invasion of

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in May. To shorten the time required to replenish the British carriers, the ship was based in the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-co ...

and in the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

until the Japanese surrender in August. ''Unicorn'' was decommissioned and placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

when she returned to the UK in January 1946. The ship was recommissioned in 1949 to support the carriers of the Far East Fleet, as the Eastern Fleet had been redesignated after World War II. She was unloading aircraft and equipment in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in June 1950 when the

began. She spent most of the war ferrying aircraft, troops, stores and equipment in support of

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

operations in Korea. ''Unicorn'' supported other carriers during operations in Korea, but she became the only aircraft carrier to conduct a shore bombardment with her guns during wartime when she attacked North Korean observers on the coast during the war. The ship returned to the UK after the end of the war and was again placed in reserve. She was sold for

in 1959.

''Colossus'' class

''Pioneer'' and ''Perseus'' were not completed to their original design as ''Colossus''-class light aircraft carriers; the success of ''Unicorn'' prompted modification of the ships whilst under construction into aircraft maintenance ships without

aircraft catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...

s and deckhouses built on the

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

. ''Pioneer'' arrived in Australia in early 1945 to support operations by the BPF against Japanese forces from a base in the

. The ship and her facilities were used to help repair

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

's infrastructure in late 1945 and she returned to the UK in early 1946. ''Pioneer'' was immediately placed in reserve upon her arrival and she was sold in 1954 for scrap. ''Perseus'' was completed in 1945, after the end of World War II, and she made a trip to Australia late in the year, just in time to help return men, aircraft and equipment. Upon her return to the UK in early 1946, ''Perseus'' was placed in reserve. The ship was recommissioned in 1950 to serve as the trials ship for the

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...

then under development. Over 1600 test launches were conducted before the catapult was removed in 1952 and she was converted for use as a ferry carrier to transport aircraft, troops and equipment overseas. She was reduced to reserve again in 1954Hobbs 2007, pp. 75, 78–79, 82, 85 and sold for scrap in 1958.

Citations

References

* * * *{{cite book, last1=Polmar, first1=Norman, last2=Genda , first2=Minoru , authorlink2=Minoru Genda, title=Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events, publisher=Potomac Books, location=Washington, D.C., year=2006, volume=1, 1909–1945, isbn=1-57488-663-0, name-list-style=amp Aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy World War II aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom Cold War aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom Korean War aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom

Key

HMS ''Unicorn''

''Colossus'' class

See also

Citations

References