Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War

Aircraft carrier class

1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier

The class in numbers

  • 16 Planned
  • 8 Completed
  • 1 Cancelled
  • 15 Scrapped

Design and service

Type
Aircraft carrier
Built
March 1942 – April 1961
In commission
December 1944 – October 2001
Operators
Brazil
Subclasses
Colossus class, Majestic class

Class specifications

Figures for the class as designed. Individual vessels varied, sometimes considerably — each vessel page carries its own configurations.

Colossus class: as designed
Displacement, standard
13,200 long tons (13,412 t)
Displacement, full load
18,000 long tons (18,289 t)
Length
211.84 m (695 ft) OA
Speed
25 knots (46.3 km/h, 28.8 mph)
Complement
1,050
Main gun
40 mm (1.6 in)
Armament
  • 6 × 4-barrelled 2 pounder anti-aircraft guns
  • 16 × twin 20 mm Oerlikon mountings
  • All weapons later replaced by 40 mm Bofors in varying configurations
Majestic class: as designed
Displacement, standard
15,750 long tons (16,003 t)
Displacement, full load
19,500 long tons (19,813 t)
Main gun
40 mm (1.6 in)
Armament
  • 30 × 40 mm Bofors (6 twin mountings, 18 single mountings)

Sources