HMS Hermes (R12)

	Hermes with her original air wing
History
United Kingdom
Name	Hermes
Namesake	Hermes
Builder	Vickers-Armstrong
Laid down	21 June 1944
Launched	16 February 1953
Commissioned	25 November 1959
Decommissioned	1984
Stricken	1985
Homeport	HMNB Portsmouth
Identification	Pennant number: 61 (1945) R12 (1951) R22 (as Viraat)
Fate	Sold to India, 1986, and renamed Viraat, scrapped 2021
India
Name	Viraat
Acquired	May 1987
Decommissioned	6 March 2017
Identification	Pennant number: R22
General characteristics
Class and type	Centaur-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	23,900 long tons (24,300 t) (standard); 28,700 long tons (29,200 t) (full load);
Length	198.12 m (650 ft 0 in) p.p.; 225.20 m (738 ft 10 in) f.d. (as built); 226.90 m (744 ft 5 in) o.a. (with ski-jump);
Beam	27.43 m (90 ft 0 in) w.l.; 43.90 m (144 ft 0 in) f.d.;
Draught	8.50 m (27 ft 11 in)
Installed power	4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers; 76,000 shp (57,000 kW);
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	2,100
Sensors and ; processing systems	MRS-3 fire-control system
Armament	10 × 40 mm Bofors; After 1970: 2 × Sea Cat launchers;
Aircraft carried	Up to 1970: 12 Sea Vixens, 7 Buccaneers, 5 Gannets and 6 Wessex; After 1980: up to 28 Sea Harriers and 9 Westland Sea Kings;

HMS Hermes was a conventional British aircraft carrier and the last of the Centaur class.

Hermes was in service with the Royal Navy from 1959 until 1984, and she served as the flagship of the British forces during the 1982 Falklands War.

After being sold to India in 1986, the vessel was recommissioned and remained in service with the Indian Navy as INS Viraat until 2017.

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