Quote:
Originally Posted by TBM-Legend
Remember the RAN has gone from one flattop to none and now two units.
Actually, from none (pre-February 1949), to one (Sydney February 1949 - December 1952), to two (Sydney & Vengeance December 1952 - October 1955 & Sydney & Melbourne October 1955 - May 1958), to one* (Melbourne May 1958 - June 1982), to none (June 1982>).
* Sydney was Fast Troop Transport/LPH until November 1973.
In all fairness they would have had one to replace Melbourne, that would or could have been in service today, but the Falklands war scuppered those plans.
The 1981 Defence White Paper and its planned reduction in the size of the carrier fleet saw Invincible marked as surplus to requirements, and the ship was offered for sale to the Royal Australian Navy in July 1981 as a replacement for the ageing aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne.[16] The class had previously been considered and discarded as a potential replacement for the Australian ship, but the low GB£175 million (A$285 million) offer price and the already-constructed state of the vessel prompted the Australian government to announce in February 1982 their intention to accept the British offer.[17] In Australian service, the ship would have been named HMAS Australia, and would operate as a helicopter carrier until a later decision on the acquisition of Sea Harriers was made.[18] Invincible's service during the Falklands War showed that the White Paper's suggested reductions were flawed and both nations withdrew from the deal in July 1982.[17]
Invincible-class aircraft carrier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia