Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War

Aircraft carrier class

Majestic-class aircraft carrier

The class in numbers

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

Design and service

Type
Aircraft carrier
Navies
Royal Navy 2
Royal Australian Navy 1
Royal Canadian Navy 1
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)

Roster

Holding 4 of the 8 hulls recorded for this class. Vessels transferred to another navy are catalogued under the navy that sailed them and appear there instead.

Vessel Pennant Commissioned Fate
HMAS Sydney (R17) R17 1948 Scrapped 1975
HMCS Bonaventure 1957 Scrapped 1971
HMCS Magnificent CVL-21 1948 Scrapped 1965
INS Vikrant (1961) 1961 1961 Scrapped 2014

Sources