ARA Veinticinco de Mayo
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The ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) was an aircraft carrier in the Armada Republica Argentina from 1969 to 1999. The English translation the name is the Twenty-fifth of May which is the May Revolution Day holiday of Argentina.
The ship was built by Cammel Laird in Birkenhead, England during World War II for the Royal Navy. As a Colossus class aircraft carrier, she was named HMS Venerable and saw service in the British Pacific Fleet. However Venerable only served 3 years in the Royal Navy before being sold to the Dutch as HNLMS Karel Doorman.
After a boiler room fire, the Dutch sold the carrier to the Argentine fleet. The Argentinians already operated a carrier, the ARA Independencia, also a former Royal Navy ship. After Independencia was decommissioned in 1970, the Veinticinco de Mayo was the sole remaining carrier in the Argentine fleet and could carry up to 24 aircraft.
The air group starts with F9F Panthers and F9F Cougars jets later replaced with A-4Q Skyhawks supported by S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft and Sikorsky Sea King helicopters.
During the Falklands War, the Veinticinco de Mayo was deployed in a task force north of the Falkland Islands, with the ARA General Belgrano to the south. The British had assigned the HMS Spartan, a nuclear powered submarine, to track down the Veinticinco de Mayo and sink her if necessary.
After hostilities broke out on May 1, 1982, the Argentine carrier attempted to launch a wave of Skyhawk jets against the Royal Navy Task Force.
However, in what was to be the first (and to date, only) battle between aircraft carriers since World War II, poor winds prevented the heavily loaded jets from being launched and after the HMS Conqueror sank the General Belgrano, the Veinticinco de Mayo returned to port, lest it too be sunk. The Spartan never tracked down the carrier.
Her A-4Q Skyhawks flew the rest of the war from the naval airbase in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and had some success against the Royal Navy, sinking HMS Ardent, although three Skyhawks were shot down by Sea Harriers.
In 1983, the Veinticinco de Mayo was modified to carry the new Dassault Super Étendard jets, but soon after problems in her engines largely confined her to port; she was deemed more or less unseaworthy.
The Argentine Navy could not procure the funds for a modernization and finally in 2000, she was towed to India and is now believed to be scrapped.
See also
- List of aircraft carriers
- Veinticinco de Mayo cruiser, previous holder of the name Veinticinco de Mayo.
External links
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