British Aircraft Carrier HMS Warrior

British Aircraft Carrier HMS Warrior (R31)

When completed on 2 April 1945, the Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Warrior was lent to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Warrior. She remained in Canadian hands from 14 March 1946 until 23 March 1948.

Upon returning to British service, HMS Warrior was refitted at Devonport, where she was equipped with an experimental flexible deck. The concept of the rubber deck was to permit aircraft to land without an undercarriage, the impact of landing being absorbed by the flexible deck. Although successful it was not implemented and Warrior was paid off to reserve in 1949.

Re-commissioned in 1960, Warrior was used to transport troops and equipment for the Korean War. When she returned to the UK in 1955, she was refitted, and an angled deck installed, along with upgrades to the arrester system and catapults to enable the operation of aircraft up to 20,000lbs.

During 1957, Warrior was used as the headquarters ship for Operation Grapple the British hydrogen bomb tests. For this operations she embarked Grumman Avenger AS4s to collect samples and a flight of Westland Whirlwind helicopters. The Avengers became contaminated from flying through the radioactive dust clouds and were dumped overboard at the end of the operation.

Warrior was decommissioned on 28 February 1958 and sold to Argentina as ARA Independencia on 6 August 1958.