The British Carrier Strike Fleet. David Hobbs
Acknowledgements
As always I have been helped and supported by my wife Jandy and my son Andrew together with his wife Lucyelle. During a career that lasted more than three decades in the Royal Navy I met a number of clever and inspirational people who broadened my knowledge of RN strike carrier tactics, techniques and operations. It would take too long to name them all and invidious to name only some of them but I thank them all wholeheartedly and those still alive will know who they are. As my focus shifted from current operations and projects to a study of naval history, many people have provided direct or indirect help, some of them in the margins of symposia and conferences around the world. Among them are the late David Brown together with Christopher Page and Stephen Prince, sequentially heads of the Naval Historical Branch, and their colleagues Jennie Wraight the Admiralty librarian, Jock Gardner and Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones. Mike MacAloon has always had the invaluable capacity not only to decide immediately which document would exactly answer a particular question but, more importantly, the knowledge of exactly where to find it within the Branch. The late D K Brown was a valued source of information on design issues that related to carrier performance. Andrew Choong and Jeremy Michel of the Historic Photograph and Ship Plans Department of the National Maritime Museum at the Brass Foundry in Woolwich have also been a considerable source of information and encouragement; I have greatly enjoyed my all-too-brief time with them poring over ships’ plans and drawings. I am also grateful to Graham Edmonds for keeping me up-to-date with what is in newspapers and other publications.
Both in Australia at King-Hall Naval History Conferences and during his visits to the UK, I have received valuable insight about both the RAN and the RN from my friend David Stevens, formerly the Director of Strategic and Historical Studies at the Sea Power Centre – Australia, and much other useful information from Joe Straczek. John Perryman, Senior Historian at the Sea Power Centre, was kind enough to locate several RAN images and to obtain permission for me to use them. Rear Admiral James Goldrick, whose father was a pilot in the RAN, has also contributed through discussions over many years, to my knowledge of the part played by the RAN’s Fleet Air Arm.
From the United States I have learnt a great deal from my friend Norman Friedman, the pre-eminent naval analyst of our generation, and from others with whom I have come into contact including A D Baker III, Edward J Marolda, Thomas Wildenberg and, not least, Tom Momiyama of the Naval Air Systems Command with whom I carried out the AV-8 Harrier trial on the USS Tarawa during 1981. The USNI digital News Daily Update provided important and relevant information.
Michael Whitby, Chief of the Canadian Naval History Team, contributed to my knowledge of the RCN Fleet Air Arm, as did J Allan Snowie from whom I learnt a great deal about aircraft operations from HMCS Magnificent and Bonaventure.
As before, I have found it possible to illustrate the book largely from the photographic collection that I have built up over many years but I am grateful to several people who were kind enough to help fill the gaps. Among these were Steve Bush of Maritime Books who allowed me to use images from the T Ferrers-Walker Collection, and the Crail Museum.
Discussions with Conrad Waters over my contributions to the Seaforth World Naval Review every year have also stimulated my thought processes and been of considerable value, I am grateful for his interest and support.
This publication contains Public Sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v 1.0 in the UK.
I am grateful to Rob Gardiner and Seaforth Publishing for their encouragement and support with this book, as with its predecessors. Our successful partnership has lasted for nearly a decade now and I have already started work on our next book together.
David Hobbs
| A/A | Anti-Aircraft |
| A&AEE | Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (Boscombe Down) |
| AAC | Army Air Corps |
| AAG | Advanced Arrester Gear |
| AAM | Air-to-Air Missile |
| ACA | Aircraft Carrier Alliance |
| ACNB | Australian Commonwealth Navy Board |
| ACNS | Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff |
| ACR | Aircraft Control Room (in a carrier) |
| ACS | Aircraft Carrier Squadron |
| ADA | Action Data Automation |
| ADAWS | Action Data Automated Weapons System |
| ADR | Aircraft Direction Room |
| AED | Air Engineering Department (in a carrier) |
| AESA | Airborne Electronically-Scanned Array |
| AEW | Airborne Early Warning |
| AF | Admiral of the Fleet |
| AFC | Air Force Cross |
| AFO | Admiralty Fleet Order |
| AFWR | Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range (USN) |
| AHU | Aircraft Holding Unit |
| AI | Air Intercept (radar) |
| AIM | Air Intercept Missile |
| ALIS | Autonomous Logistic Information System |
| AMRAAM | Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile |
| AN/APS | Army-Navy/Airborne Pulse Search (radar) (USN designation) |
| A/S | Anti-Submarine |
| ASaC | Airborne Surveillance and Control |
| ASM | Air-to-Surface Missile |
| ASOC | Air Support Operations centre |
| ASR | Air-Sea Rescue |
| ASV | Air-to-Surface Vessel (radar) |
| ASW | Anti-Submarine Warfare |
| avcat | Aviation Catoline Spirit |
| avgas | Aviation Gasoline |
| avtur | Aviation Turbine Spirit |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation |
| BOAC | British Overseas Airways Corporation |
| BPF | British Pacific Fleet |
| BR | Book of Reference |
| BuAir | Bureau of Aircraft USN |
| CAF | Canadian Armed Forces |
| CAFO | Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order |
| CAG | Carrier Air Group |
| CAH | NATO designation for a helicopter-carrying light cruiser |
| CALE | Catapult/Aircraft Line-Up Equipment |
| CAP | Combat Air Patrol |
| CB | Confidential Book |
| CCA | Carrier Controlled Approach |
| CCH | Helicopter-operating Cruiser (USN/NATO designation) |
| CDS | Comprehensive Display System/Chief of the Defence Staff |
| CEC | Co-operative Engagement Capability |
| CENTO | Central Treaty Organisation |
| CGRM | Commandant General Royal Marines |
| C-in-C | Commander-in-Chief |
| CIWS | Close-In Weapons System |
| CNO | Chief of Naval Operations USN |
| COD | Carrier On-board Delivery (aircraft) |
| COMFEF | Commander Far East Fleet |
| COMNAVFE | Commander Naval Forces Far East (USN) |
| COMUKTG | Commander UK Task Group |
| CRBFD | Close-Range Blind Fire Director |
| CS | Cruiser Squadron |
| CV | Aircraft Carrier (USN/NATO designation) |
| CVA | Attack Aircraft Carrier (USN/NATO designation) |
| CVE | Escort Aircraft Carrier (USN/NATO designation) |
| CVL | Light Aircraft Carrier (USN designation) |
| CVN | Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier (USN/NATO designation) |
| CVS | Support Aircraft Carrier (USN/NATO designation) |
| CW | Continuous Wave |
| DAPS | Deck Landing Approach Sight |
| DC | Direct Current |
| DCNS | Deputy Chief of Naval Staff |
| DGA(N) | Director General Aircraft (Naval) |
| DG Ships | Director General Ships |
| DLCO | Deck Landing Control Officer |
| DLMS | Deck Landing Mirror Sight |
| DLPS | Deck Landing Projector Sight |
| DLT | Deck Landing Training |
| DNAW | Directorate of Naval Air Warfare |
| DNC | Director of Naval Construction |
| DNO | Director of Naval Ordnance |
| DRPC | Defence Research Policy Committee |
| DSC | Distinguished Service Cross |
| DSO | Distinguished Service Order |
| ECCM | Electronic Counter-Countermeasures |
| ECM | Electronic |