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As has been pointed out in the thread on the NIGS ship Friedman's book British Carrier Aviation describes a 30,000 ton carrier/missile ship that was presented to a meeting of the Naval Air Requirements Committee (NARC) in Bath in 1956.
The ship was designed to carry the so-called 1and 3/4 stage missile then under development. Initially it was thought necessary to fit the launcher on one side of the carrier. However as this reduced the number of catapults to one (Scheme A), a design with the launcher aft and two catapults was developed (Scheme B). An outline drawing of this ship was presented to the NARC, but has not survived and so we rely on the description in Friedman.
Although the 1 and 3/4 stage missile was cancelled in the 1957 Sandys review, the carrier/missile ship remained in the long term programme until 1960. In 1956 the first ship was planned for finalisation in 1958 to enter service in 1965.
Some years have now passed since Friedman's book but nothing more seems to have emerged about this project in which Lord Mountbatten, the First Sea Lord, took a close interest.
Perhaps someone who worked on this might know more..
The ship was designed to carry the so-called 1and 3/4 stage missile then under development. Initially it was thought necessary to fit the launcher on one side of the carrier. However as this reduced the number of catapults to one (Scheme A), a design with the launcher aft and two catapults was developed (Scheme B). An outline drawing of this ship was presented to the NARC, but has not survived and so we rely on the description in Friedman.
Although the 1 and 3/4 stage missile was cancelled in the 1957 Sandys review, the carrier/missile ship remained in the long term programme until 1960. In 1956 the first ship was planned for finalisation in 1958 to enter service in 1965.
Some years have now passed since Friedman's book but nothing more seems to have emerged about this project in which Lord Mountbatten, the First Sea Lord, took a close interest.
Perhaps someone who worked on this might know more..
