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HMS ''Perseus'' was a light fleet aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The ship was initially named ''Edgar'', but she was renamed in 1944 when the Admiralty decided to convert her into an aircraft maintenance carrier. She was completed in 1945, after the end of World War II, and she made a trip to Australia late in the year. 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 then under development. Over 1,600 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 1954 and sold for scrap in 1958. ==Design, description and construction== The ''Colossus''-class carriers were intended to meet a shortage of naval flight decks. Their design was based on that of the , but modified to permit rapid construction in commercial yards. ''Perseus'' was not completed to her original design; the success of the maintenance aircraft carrier prompted modification of the ship, whilst under construction, to an aircraft maintenance ship without aircraft catapults.〔Friedman, pp. 237, 239〕 ''Perseus'' had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load. She displaced at standard load. Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft. Steam was supplied by four Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers operating at a pressure of . The turbines were designed for a total of and gave ''Perseus'' a speed of .〔Lenton, p. 107〕 The ship carried of fuel oil which gave her a range of at .〔Hobbs, p. 73〕 In order maximize space for workshops and stores, the ship's arresting gear and catapult were not fitted and all the facilities required for flying operations were removed. Two large deckhouses were added to port of the island and on the rear of the flight deck. The ship had a single hangar, high. Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by two aircraft lifts (elevators); each measured .〔Friedman, p. 367〕 Two large cranes were mounted on the flight deck to move aircraft and stores to and from the flight deck. The ship carried two small self-propelled lighters to allow unflyable aircraft to be transferred between ships or to shore facilities. Bulk petrol storage consisted of .〔Hobbs, pp. 69, 73〕 The ship's crew totalled 854, plus 222 in her aircraft repair department.〔 Aircraft could undergo maintenance, and most functional and equipment tests carried out aboard - either in the hangar or on the deck. Some components and could be repaired on board, but other work was to be carried out by the workshops on the engine repair and component repair ships that would accompany the maintenance carrier.〔Brown p24-25〕 The ship was equipped with six quadruple mounts for the QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun ("pom-pom").〔 These gun mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +80°. The Mk VIII 2-pounder gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of to a distance of . The gun's rate of fire was approximately 96–98 rounds per minute.〔Campbell, pp. 71–74〕 She was also fitted with 19 Bofors 40 mm autocannon in single mounts.〔 The Bofors fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . It had a rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute and a maximum range of .〔Campbell, pp. 67, 70〕 All of the guns were mounted on the flight deck, not in sponsons on the side of the hull like her half-sisters that were completed as aircraft carriers.〔Hobbs, p. 68〕 Each "pom-pom" mount was provided with a separate fire-control director fitted with a Type 262 gunnery radar.〔 ''Perseus'' was ordered on 14 March 1942 under the name ''Edgar''. She was laid down at Vickers-Armstrong in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 1 January 1943 and was launched on 26 March 1944.〔Lenton, p. 108〕 The ship was renamed ''Perseus'' in July 1944,〔Colledge, p. 110〕 after the decision had been made to convert her to an aircraft maintenance ship,〔 and she was completed on 19 October 1945.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Perseus (R51)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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