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108-462: A combat information center ( CIC ) or action information centre ( AIC ) is a room in a warship or AWACS aircraft that functions as a tactical center and provides processed information for command and control of the near battlespace or area of operations . Within other military commands , rooms serving similar functions are known as command centers . Regardless of the vessel or command locus, each CIC organizes and processes information into

216-687: A DSO for his part in the action. On 31 May 1941, Victorious set out in another attempt to deliver the Hurricanes, sailing with troop convoy WS 8X . On 4 June 1941 a Swordfish of 825 Squadron from Victorious spotted the German supply ship Gonzenheim north of the Azores . Gonzenheim had been intended to support the Bismarck but was subsequently scuttled when approached by the battleship Nelson and cruiser Neptune . On 5 June, Victorious

324-481: A line of battle . The man-of-war now evolved into the ship of the line . In the 18th century, the frigate and sloop-of-war  – too small to stand in the line of battle – evolved to escort convoy trade, scout for enemy ships and blockade enemy coasts. During the 19th century a revolution took place in the means of marine propulsion , naval armament and construction of warships . Marine steam engines were introduced, at first as an auxiliary force, in

432-578: A brief stop in San Diego, Victorious passed through the Panama Canal on 26 August and arrived at Norfolk Navy Yard 1 September, where specialized US equipment was removed. Returning home, she arrived at Greenock on the Clyde on 26 September 1943 where aircraft and stores were discharged awaiting refit. From December 1943 until March 1944, Victorious was under refit at Liverpool , where new radar

540-440: A cargo including mines , before leaving Adventure on 30 July. On 31 July the carriers launched their airstrikes, with Victorious launching 20 Albacores escorted by 12 Fulmars against Kirkenes , while Furious launched nine Sorwdfish and nine Albacores escorted by 6 Fulmars against Petsamo (now Pechanga , Russia). The attack against Kirkenes encountered heavy air opposition, with 11 Albacores and 2 Fulmars being shot down, while

648-471: A deck like a helicopter carrier for helicopters and V/STOL aircraft. HMS Victorious (R38) HMS Victorious was the third Illustrious -class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable . Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning

756-472: A displacement hierarchy, and the size of all vessel types has grown beyond the definitions used earlier in the 20th century. Another key difference between older and modern vessels is that all modern warships are "soft", without the thick armor and bulging anti-torpedo protection of World War II and older designs. Most navies also include many types of support and auxiliary vessels , such as minesweepers , patrol boats and offshore patrol vessels . By 1982

864-556: A form more convenient and usable by the commander in authority. Each CIC funnels communications and data received over multiple channels, which is then organized, evaluated, weighted and arranged to provide ordered timely information flow to the battle command staff under the control of the CIC officer and his deputies. CICs are widely depicted in film and television treatments, frequently with large maps, numerous computer consoles and radar and sonar repeater displays or consoles, as well as

972-469: A great array of ships in several coordinated groups; two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and thirty two destroyers. Some of the carriers were transporting aircraft for Malta's defence and fourteen merchant ships carried supplies. On 12 August 1942 Victorious was slightly damaged by an attack from Italian bombers. Eagle was less fortunate, being torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on her return journey to Gibraltar. Ultimately Pedestal

1080-677: A heavily armoured battleship and an ocean liner. Until the threat of piracy subsided in the 19th century, it was normal practice to arm larger merchant ships such as galleons . Warships have also often been used as troop carriers or supply ships, such as by the French Navy in the 18th century or the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War. In war since the early 20th century, merchant ships were often armed and used as auxiliary warships , such as

1188-446: A pioneer of modern-day amphibious assault ships . During some of her operations, she was known to have used at least four cover names, R1, GL, MT, and Ryujo Maru. An amphibious warfare ship is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines , on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crudely described as ships and craft. In general,

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1296-410: A refit period from June 1967. General characteristics of Victorious after reconstruction. On 11 November 1967, after the completion of the 1967 refit and shortly before the start of what was intended as the ship's final commission, there was a relatively small fire, which was rapidly extinguished, in the chief petty officers' mess (resulting in one death and two hospitalisations ). Although damage

1404-416: A ship class without redefinition. The destroyer is generally regarded as the dominant surface-combat vessel of most modern blue-water navies. However, the once distinct roles and appearances of cruisers , destroyers , frigates , and corvettes have blurred. Most vessels have come to be armed with a mix of anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weapons. Class designations no longer reliably indicate

1512-600: A short pause, on 18 September, Victorious and Indomitable attacked railway yards at Sigli in Sumatra followed by photo-reconnaissance of the Nicobar Islands (Operation Light). During Light , there was a " friendly fire " attack on HMS Spirit , fortunately without causing any casualties. At the end of September, Victorious had a short interval at Bombay for repairs to her steering gear to remedy problems that had arisen during Operation Light. She rejoined

1620-459: A smaller number of larger guns to be carried. The final innovation during the 19th century was the development of the torpedo and development of the torpedo boat . Small, fast torpedo boats seemed to offer an alternative to building expensive fleets of battleships. Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced

1728-405: Is built up from many connected embedded systems . Warship In wartime, the distinction between warships and merchant ships is often blurred. Until the 17th century it was common for merchant ships to be pressed into naval service, and not unusual for more than half of a fleet to be composed of merchant ships—there was not a large difference in construction, unlike the difference between

1836-548: Is called the combat direction center (CDC). The United States developed their Command Information Center concept circa the winter of 1942–1943 and implemented it in a surge of refitting and retraining during 1943 after post-battle action analyses of battles in 1942 from the battle of the Coral Sea through the losses at Ironbottom Sound during the protracted Solomon Islands campaign . In British usage this area may be known as an aircraft direction room ; together with

1944-768: Is shown giving the order to detach Victorious from Convoy WS 8B , which was forming in the River Clyde in order to move almost 20,000 troops to the Middle East. Victorious took part in Operation Vantage in support of Kuwait in July 1961. Later in 1961 she would sail to join the Far East Fleet . In 1964, she provided support for the newly independent state of Malaysia against territorial expansion by its neighbour, Indonesia . Her passage through

2052-578: The Tirpitz . The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to the Eastern Fleet at Colombo and then to the Pacific for the final actions of the war against Japan. After the war, her service was broken by periods in reserve and, between 1950 and 1958, the most complete reconstruction of any Royal Navy carrier. This involved the construction of new superstructure above

2160-468: The 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Philip Vian and they were in action against airfields on the Sakishima Islands (Operations Iceberg I and Iceberg II) and Formosa (Operation Iceberg Oolong). The British carriers were attacked by kamikaze suicide aircraft and Victorious was hit on 4 and 9 May and near-missed on 1 April, but her armoured flight deck resisted

2268-712: The Battle of Guadalcanal , the United States Navy employed operational analysis , determined many of their losses were due to procedure and disorganization, and implemented the Combat Information Centers, building on what was initially called "radar plot" according to an essay CIC Yesterday and Today by the Naval Historical Center. That same article points out that in 1942 radar, radar procedure, battle experiences, needs, and

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2376-595: The Battle of the Philippine Sea when set out as radar pickets had to undertake forward air controller (FAC) functions and somehow jam in air search radar and anti-air action control functions. From that beginning, were added the corporate experiences of the continuing series of naval air and naval surface actions around and about the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands campaign. By late 1943 when

2484-559: The Eastern Fleet at Colombo , Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she arrived on 5 July. The Eastern Fleet, after a quiet period of trade protection and relative vulnerability, was now being reinforced with ships released from the Atlantic and Mediterranean, in preparation for offensive action against the Japanese. After a short preparatory period, Victorious took part in a sequence of air attacks against Japanese installations. The first

2592-553: The German battleship  Tirpitz in Altafjord , Norway. This involved Barracudas in two waves, hitting the battleship fourteen times and strafing the ship's defences. Although near-misses caused flooding and there was serious damage to the superstructure, the ship's armour was not penetrated. Nonetheless, the attack put Tirpitz out of action for some months. The Task Force returned to Scapa Flow three days later. Victorious

2700-560: The Grumman Avenger aircraft. Additional AA guns were also fitted. She sailed for the south-west Pacific, arriving at Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 17 May to form Carrier Division 1 with USS Saratoga . She sortied immediately for a week with Task Force 14, including Saratoga and battleships North Carolina , Massachusetts , and Indiana , sweeping against reported Japanese fleet activity, but without contact. Six aircraft were lost to accidents. Rear Admiral DeWitt Ramsey , commanding

2808-570: The Hawker Sea Fury (Mark 10) took place aboard Victorious , leading to its approval for carrier operations in early 1947. Victorious was reduced to the reserve at Devonport on 15 January 1947, on completion of her trooping duties. From June that year she was modified at Portsmouth Dockyard with additional accommodation and classrooms and on 1 October 1947, joined the Home Fleet Training Squadron, replacing

2916-497: The Middle East . Following the sortie of the German battleship  Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen , Victorious , despite not being worked up and having an understrength air wing (consisting of the nine biplane Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron and a flight of Fairey Fulmar fighters ), was ordered to take part in the hunt for Bismarck and Prinz Eugen , sailing from Scapa Flow with

3024-605: The Q-ships of the First World War and the armed merchant cruisers of the Second World War . The main types of warships today are, in order of decreasing size: aircraft carriers – amphibious assault ships – cruisers – destroyers – frigates – corvettes – fast attack boats . A more extensive list follows: The first evidence of ships being used for warfare comes from Ancient Egypt , specifically

3132-541: The Second World War Nazi Germany's fleet of U-boats (submarines) almost starved Britain into submission and inflicted huge losses on US coastal shipping. The success of submarines led to the development of new anti-submarine convoy escorts during the First and Second World Wars, such as the destroyer escort . Confusingly, many of these new types adopted the names of the smaller warships from

3240-606: The US 3rd Fleet on 16 July and became effectively absorbed into the American structure as a part of TF38 for the "softening up" of Japanese resistance within their home islands. During the second half of July, aircraft from Victorious took part in a series of attacks on Japanese shipping, transport and airbases on Honshu and around the Inland Sea . In one notable attack in July, aircraft of 849 Squadron from Victorious located

3348-691: The US 5th Fleet . At the end of the month, TF113 left Sydney for their forward base at Manus Island , north of New Guinea , and then continued, joining the 5th US Fleet at Ulithi on 25 March as Task Force 57 (TF57), supporting the American assault on Okinawa . The task allocated to the British force was to neutralise airfields in the Sakishima Gunto . From late March until 25 May, the British carriers Victorious , Illustrious (later replaced by Formidable ), Indefatigable and Indomitable formed

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3456-587: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) treaty negotiations had produced a legal definition of what was then generally accepted as a late-twentieth century warship. The UNCLOS definition was : "A warship means a ship belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by

3564-443: The age of sail , such as corvette , sloop and frigate . A seaplane tender is a ship that supports the operation of seaplanes . Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are regarded by some as the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War . A major shift in naval warfare occurred with

3672-516: The capital ships from the menace of the torpedo boat. At this time, Britain also introduced the use of fuel oil to power steam warships, instead of coal. Oil produced twice as much power per unit weight as coal, and was much easier to handle. Tests were conducted by the Royal Navy in 1904 involving the torpedo-boat destroyer Spiteful , the first warship powered solely by fuel oil. These proved its superiority, and all warships procured for

3780-420: The dreadnoughts on an even larger hull , battlecruisers sacrificed armour protection for speed. Battlecruisers were faster and more powerful than all existing cruisers, but much more vulnerable to shellfire than contemporary battleships. The torpedo-boat destroyer was developed at the same time as the dreadnoughts. Bigger, faster and more heavily gunned than the torpedo boat , the destroyer evolved to protect

3888-554: The 4th century BC and the subsequent refinement of this technology enabled the first fleets of siege engine - equipped warships by the Hellenistic age . During late antiquity , ramming fell out of use and the galley tactics against other ships used during the Middle Ages until the late 16th century focused on boarding. Naval artillery was redeveloped in the 14th century, but cannon did not become common at sea until

3996-704: The Albacores were lost during the operation. The German force was not unscathed, as Prinz Eugen was torpedoed by the British submarine Trident , sustaining damage that took months to repair. In March 1942, the threat posed by Tirpitz , now based in Northern Norway, resulted in the Home Fleet providing a strong covering force, including Victorious , for the concurrent Arctic convoys PQ 12 (out-bound) and QP 8 (return). On 6 March 1942, Tirpitz and three destroyers sortied from Trondheim to attack

4104-510: The American battleships USS  Idaho and Mississippi , and cruisers USS  Wichita and Tuscaloosa to patrol the Denmark Strait in order to intercept any breakout. While Adolf Hitler cancelled the planned sortie on 17 November, Victorious continued patrols with the Home Fleet to stop any breakout, often in very poor weather, until the end of 1941. On 19 February 1942, Victorious left Scapa Flow in company with

4212-490: The Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, she portrayed both herself and HMS Ark Royal during the filming of the British film Sink the Bismarck! . This was despite post-war modifications significantly altering her appearance – the addition of an angled deck and a Type 984 "searchlight" radar. The actor Kenneth More who had served aboard Victorious as a junior officer, played a fictitious Admiralty Director of Operations. He

4320-475: The CIC decision makers. A single 'mark' ( range and bearing datum) bears little actionable decision-making information by itself. A succession of such data tells much more, including whether the contact is closing or opening in range, an idea of its speed and direction (these are calculable, even from bearings-only data, given sufficient observations and knowledge of tactics), the relation to other contacts and their ranges and behaviors. Harvesting such data sets from

4428-531: The Eastern Fleet on 6 October. The next operation, Millet , was her last with the Eastern Fleet. On 17 October, she launched attacks on the Nicobar Islands and Nancowry harbour, with HMS Indomitable and escorted by HMS Renown . Enemy air attacks destroyed four aircraft and damaged five more. During early November, Victorious returned to Bombay for more work on her steering as more problems had arisen during Millet . The British Pacific Fleet (BPF)

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4536-767: The Indian Ocean in late 1944 are believed to have continued. On 31 August, Victorious ' s ship's company took part in the Victory Parade in Sydney . Victorious left Australia in September 1945, arrived back in Britain on 27 October and undertook three trips to collect servicemen and war brides of British servicemen from Australia and the Far East. In the winter of 1946–47, the first deck trials with

4644-586: The Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo at Beppu Bay in Kyūshū and attacked her, inflicting serious damage that kept the ship out of the remainder of the war. In the main, however, British aircraft were excluded from the actions against the major Japanese naval bases; the Americans, for political reasons, preferred to reserve these targets for themselves. Victorious was scheduled to leave for Manus Island with Task Force 37 (TF37) on 10 August 1945 to prepare for

4752-915: The North African landings. In November 1942, Victorious took part in the North African landings. Operation Torch , which involved 196 ships of the Royal Navy and 105 of the United States Navy , landed about 107,000 Allied soldiers. Ultimately successful, Operation Torch was the precursor to the later invasions of Sicily , Italy and France. Victorious provided air cover during the landings and made air attacks at Algiers and Fort Duree . Four of her Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters landed at Blida airfield to accept its surrender. She left for Scapa Flow on 18 November and, while en route, Fairey Albacores of 817 Squadron depth charged U-517 off Cape Finisterre . The submarine's structure

4860-686: The Royal Navy from 1912 were designed to burn fuel oil. During the lead-up to the Second World War , Germany and the United Kingdom once again emerged as the two dominant Atlantic sea powers. The German navy, under the Treaty of Versailles , was limited to only a few minor surface ships. But the clever use of deceptive terminology, such as Panzerschiffe deceived the British and French commands. They were surprised when ships such as Admiral Graf Spee , Scharnhorst , and Gneisenau raided Allied supply lines. The greatest threat however,

4968-535: The Soviet Union, the carriers Victorious and Furious were ordered to conduct Operation EF (1941) attacks on the ports of Kirkenes and Petsamo in the far north of Norway and Finland respectively. On 26 July a task force including the two carriers set out from Seyðisfjörður in Iceland. For the first part of the operation, the task force escorted the minelayer Adventure , on passage to Archangelsk with

5076-716: The Sunda Strait caused the Sunda Straits Crisis between August and September 1964, which was settled peacefully when Indonesia agreed to allow Victorious to return through the Lombok Strait. In April 1966 she departed again to serve with the Far East Fleet for a year, during which she proved capable of landing and then launching a US Navy Phantom F-4 from USS  Ranger , returning to the UK for

5184-456: The abilities and processes of a centralized control room. The Naval History & Heritage Command essay notes that growing the responsibility of the nascent CIC organization necessarily upset the old order of doing, who was reporting to whom, and most of all, of communications protocols where now CICs within a task group were, when possible, joined in permanent communication links to even the lowliest destroyer escort or fleet auxiliary, adding

5292-603: The aircraft carrier Argus which was delivering Hurricanes to Murmansk (Operation Strength). On the return journey, Victorious launched attacks on 12 September against shipping in Vestfjorden , claiming two merchant ships sunk, including the Norwegian Hurtigruten coastal steamer Barøy , and against the Glomfjord hydro-electric power plant , an aluminium factory and a radio station. No opposition

5400-592: The almost ubiquitous grease-pencil annotated polar plot on an edge-lighted transparent plotting board. At the time the CIC concept was born, the projected map-like polar display ( PPI scopes ) with the ship at the center was making its way into radar displays displacing the A-scope which was simply a time-delayed blip showing a range on the cathode ray tube display of an oscilloscope . Such polar plots are used routinely in navigation and military action management to display time-stamped range and bearing information to

5508-434: The anticipated invasion of Japan ( Operation Olympic ), and actually left on August 12, then proceeding to Sydney. The surrender of Japan on 15 August rendered the invasion moot. The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) commander had agreed to stay for one more day's operations, but the British arrangements could not stretch to a further delay and fuel shortages were insurmountable. The steering faults that had hampered Victorious in

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5616-422: The attack on Petsamo lost another Albacore and two Fulmars. During August, Victorious embarked 817 and 832 Squadrons , both equipped with Albacores to replace 827 and 828 Squadrons. From 24 to 30 August 1941, Victorious formed part of the distant escort force for the eight merchant ships of Operation Dervish, the first Arctic convoy of the war as they sailed from Iceland to Arkhangelsk, and then covered

5724-497: The attacks, as in the Battle of the Coral Sea . Modern warships are generally divided into seven main categories, which are: aircraft carriers , cruisers , destroyers , frigates , corvettes , submarines , and amphibious warfare ships . Battleships comprise an eighth category, but are not in current service with any navy in the world. Only the deactivated American Iowa -class battleships still exist as potential combatants, and battleships in general are unlikely to re-emerge as

5832-423: The battleship King George V , the battlecruiser Repulse and 4 light cruisers on the evening of 22 May. Late on 24 May 1941, Victorious launched nine of her Swordfishes, followed by three Fulmars to track the German battleship, with two more Fulmar later launched to relieve the first three Fulmars. The Swordfish, under the command of Eugene Esmonde , flew through foul weather and attacked Bismarck in

5940-659: The battleship King George V , the cruiser Berwick and seven destroyers to attack shipping in the Tromsø region, but on 21 February an RAF Coastal Command aircraft spotted the German cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen on passage to Norway, and the British force was diverted to try and intercept the German ships, which turned back towards Germany on being sighted. On the night of 22/23 February Victorious launched two forces of 10 and 7 Albacores to search for and attack Scheer and Prinz Eugen but they failed to locate their targets in conditions of poor visibility. Three of

6048-481: The battleship Nelson . In July 1948, Victorious was deployed to Portland Harbour in support of the sailing events at the 1948 London Olympic Games . In 1949 she was refitted at Rosyth and took part in several training cruises and Home Fleet exercises. The ship was extensively reconstructed and modernised at Portsmouth Dockyard between 1950 and 1958. This took over eight years because of frequent design changes to allow for new technologies. And in particular,

6156-711: The belief that an attack was imminent by the German warships Admiral Hipper , Lützow , Admiral Scheer , and Tirpitz . The suspension of the Arctic convoys released Victorious to take part in a "last chance" attempt to resupply Malta – Operation Pedestal . Malta-bound Convoy WS 21S departed Britain on 3 August 1942 escorted by Victorious with HMS  Nelson and cruisers Nigeria , Kenya and Manchester . Exercises ( Operation Berserk ) were performed with aircraft carriers HMS  Indomitable , Furious , Eagle and Argus to improve operational techniques. Pedestal began on 10 August 1942 and involved

6264-455: The decision in 1953 that she would have to have her original steam turbines replaced, to be viable past 1964, which meant much work had to be redone, and a new flight deck installed twice over. The cost of the reconstruction increased from 5 million pounds to 30 million pounds creating what was in many respects a new ship. Her hull was widened, deepened, and lengthened; her machinery was replaced with Foster-Wheeler boilers; her hangar height

6372-463: The decision makers. The methods and materials may vary, but the provision of information & options to a leader remain the same. Some control, assistance, and coordination functions may be delegated to the CIC staff or directly to the CIC officer, such as overseeing the mode and prioritization of sensor resources such as radar monitoring, targeting, or sonar activities; communications to external sources and assets. On US aircraft carriers this area

6480-593: The division, carried out evaluation exercises and patrol sweeps in June and determined that Victorious had superior fighter control but handled Avenger aircraft poorly because of their weight. Accordingly, he transferred 832 Squadron FAA to the Saratoga and US Carrier Air Group 3 to the Victorious . Thereafter, Victorious ' s primary role was fighter cover and Saratoga mainly handled strikes. On 27 June, TF14

6588-474: The end of April, until June, Anglo-American forces (including the US ships Washington , Tuscaloosa , and Wichita ) covered convoys PQ 16 , QP 12 , PQ 17, and QP 13 , after which Victorious returned to Scapa Flow. The Arctic convoys had been suspended temporarily after the heavy losses suffered by Convoy PQ 17 when twenty-three out of thirty-six ships were sunk. This was after the convoy had been scattered in

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6696-545: The eyes and reports of their lookouts to those of similar watch-standers about the fleet as a whole. In short the CICs continually grew for a time, superseding old organizational structure and supplanting them with a new system filtering and shaping information to a newly empowered command group. The tasks and facilities put at the service of the CICs also grew within a ship. While in 1943 a destroyer CIC might just have been configured for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare tasks, by

6804-505: The face of tremendous fire from anti-aircraft guns, scoring a hit to the 320 mm armoured belt with a torpedo. No aircraft were shot down during the attack, but two Fulmars ditched after they could not find the carrier in the dark because a rain squall had moved in and the carrier's homing beacon had failed. Victorious took no further part in the chase; aircraft from Ark Royal disabled Bismarck ' s steering gear, thus contributing to her sinking three days later. Esmonde received

6912-694: The first new construction carriers of the Essex -class fleet carriers and the Independence -class light carriers with many associated fleet vessels had reinforced the refitted USS Enterprise (CV-6) and the USS Saratoga (CV-3) , the U.S. Navy was prepared to take the offensive and began evolving CIC procedures and operational doctrine for a fleet of carriers. There has been an evolution of electronics ( computer ) equipment and user interfaces used in such installations over time. Modern CIC equipment

7020-403: The first time, the aircraft carrier became the clear choice to serve as the main capital ship within a naval task force. World War II was the only war in history in which battles occurred between groups of carriers. World War II saw the first use of radar in combat. It brought the first naval battle in which the ships of both sides never engaged in direct combat, instead sending aircraft to make

7128-494: The government of the State and whose name appears in the appropriate service list or its equivalent, and manned by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline." The first practical submarines were developed in the late 19th century, but it was only after the development of the torpedo that submarines became truly dangerous (and hence useful). By the end of the First World War submarines had proved their potential. During

7236-468: The guns were capable of being reloaded quickly enough to be reused in the same battle. The size of a ship required to carry a large number of cannons made oar-based propulsion impossible, and warships came to rely primarily on sails. The sailing man-of-war emerged during the 16th century. By the middle of the 17th century, warships were carrying increasing numbers of cannons on their broadsides and tactics evolved to bring each ship's firepower to bear in

7344-505: The hangar deck level, a new angled flight deck, new boilers and the fitting of Type 984 radar and data links and heavy shipboard computers, able to track 50 targets and assess their priority for interrogation and interception. The reduction of Britain's naval commitment in 1967, the end of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation , and a fire while under refit , prompted her final withdrawal from service, three to five years early, and she

7452-547: The idea for a command information center was taken “specifically, consciously, and directly” from the spaceship Directrix in the Lensman novels of E. E. Smith , Ph.D., and influenced by the works of his friend and collaborator Robert Heinlein , a retired American naval officer. After the numerous losses during the various naval battles off Guadalcanal during the war of attrition in the Solomon Islands campaign and

7560-453: The introduction of the aircraft carrier . First at Taranto and then at Pearl Harbor , the aircraft carrier demonstrated its ability to strike decisively at enemy ships out of sight and range of surface vessels. By the end of the Second World War, the carrier had become the dominant warship. Shinshū Maru was a ship of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. She was the world's first purpose-built landing craft carrier ship, and

7668-551: The ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protected by case-hardened steel armour, and powered by coal-fired triple-expansion steam engines, pre-dreadnought battleships carried a main battery of very heavy guns in fully-enclosed rotating turrets supported by one or more secondary batteries of lighter weapons. The role of corvettes , sloops and frigates were taken by new types of ships like destroyers , protected cruisers and armoured cruisers . Another revolution in capital warship design began shortly after

7776-411: The jets coming into service limited her to operating no more than 28 aircraft (including helicopters). On 25 September 1958 Commander J. D. Russell drowned in his Supermarine Scimitar after a failed attempt to land on Victorious for the first time after her refit. Although the landing hook engaged the arrestor wire, the wire itself snapped due to improper rigging and the aircraft then rolled slowly over

7884-474: The last week of March 1942, Victorious formed part of the covering force for convoy PQ 13 and QP 9 . The carrier received significant weather damage from a force 9 gale with 65 ft (20 m) waves buckling the ship's bow plating and forward bulkheads and requiring a short refit at Rosyth to repair the damage. Victorious continued to provide cover for Arctic Convoys for the rest April 1942, helping to provide cover for convoys PQ 14 , and QP 10 . From

7992-399: The main material for warship construction. From the 1850s, the sailing ships of the line were replaced by steam-powered battleships , while the sailing frigates were replaced by steam-powered cruisers . The armament of warships also changed with the invention of the rotating barbettes and turrets , which allowed the guns to be aimed independently of the direction of the ship and allowed

8100-601: The naval base at Scapa Flow on 19 June with 63 captured crewmen from Gonzenheim . Victorious embarked a new air wing in early July, consisting of the Fulmar-equipped 809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and two squadrons ( 827 NAS and 828 NAS ) equipped with the Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber. To provide support to the Soviet Union following the Operation Barbarossa the German invasion of

8208-754: The northern Nile River most likely to defend against Mediterranean peoples. The galley warship most likely originated in Crete an idea which was soon copied and popularized by the Phoenicians . In the time of Mesopotamia , Ancient Persia , Phoenicia , Ancient Greece and the Ancient Rome , warships were always galleys (such as biremes , triremes and quinqueremes ): long, narrow vessels powered by banks of oarsmen and designed to ram and sink enemy vessels, or to engage them bow -first and follow up with boarding parties. The development of catapults in

8316-570: The operations room all grew up together as needs developed and experience was gained and training spread, all in fits and starts, beginning with the earliest radar uses in the Pacific battles starting with the Coral Sea , when radar gave rise to the first tentative attempt to vector an Air CAP to approaching Japanese flights, maturing somewhat before the Battle of Midway , where post-battle analysis of Coral Sea's results had given more confidence in

8424-614: The operations room they form an "operations headquarters". The British aircraft direction room evolved from the fighter direction office, a primitive means of controlling an aircraft carrier's aircraft through radio and radar. In September, 1942, HMS Victorious underwent a refit that included installation of an aircraft direction room. The idea of such a centralized control room can be found in science fiction as early as The Struggle for Empire (1900) . Early versions were used in World War II; according to Rear Admiral Cal Laning ,

8532-420: The polar plots and computers (Common to sonar , radar and lidar ) allows the CIC crew to plot the data correctly on a chart or map at the correct range and bearing, and to calculate the course and speed of the contact accurately, giving the set a vast expansion to include future positions, given unchanged relative courses and relative speeds. A CIC in a naval context brings together and manages information on

8640-472: The second quarter of the 19th century. The Crimean War gave a great stimulus to the development of guns. The introduction of explosive shells soon led to the introduction of iron , and later steel , naval armour for the sides and decks of larger warships. The first ironclad warships, the French Gloire and British Warrior , made wooden vessels obsolete. Metal soon entirely replaced wood as

8748-470: The ships carry the troops from the port of embarkation to the drop point for the assault and the craft carry the troops from the ship to the shore. Amphibious assaults taking place over short distances can also involve the shore-to-shore technique, where landing craft go directly from the port of embarkation to the assault point. Amphibious assault ships have a well deck with landing craft which can carry tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles and also have

8856-459: The side. It sank very slowly, but the plane-guard helicopter crew couldn't release the pilot, and it was seen that Cdr Russell had opened his canopy and then closed it again, possibly an effect of gravity on the heavy frame. The other seven Scimitars in the stream diverted away to Yeovilton. In 1960, after recommissioning into the Home Fleet on 14 January 1958, with work-ups and deployments in

8964-420: The start of the 20th century, when Britain launched the Royal Navy 's all-big-gun battleship Dreadnought in 1906. Powered by steam turbines , it was bigger, faster and more heavily gunned than any existing battleships , which it immediately rendered obsolete. It was rapidly followed by similar ships in other countries. The Royal Navy also developed the first battlecruisers . Mounting the same heavy guns as

9072-524: The two convoys in Operation Sportpalast . On 7 March 1942, the German destroyer Friedrich Ihn encountered the Soviet freighter Izhora , a straggler from QP 8. The freighter managed to report by radio that she was under attack by a surface ship before being sunk, informing the British that a German force was at sea and near the convoys. When signals intelligence indicated that Tirpitz

9180-403: The warship's status and its surroundings, and supplies this to the commanding officer , who would generally be present on the nearby bridge or where plots can be viewed and, if one is aboard, a flag officer who might have their own separate flag bridge and fleet CIC. CICs or operations centers in other command contexts have the same function: information ordering, gathering, and presentation to

9288-539: The worst of the impacts. She remained on station and was back in operation within hours on each occasion, despite damage to an aircraft lift and steam piping in her superstructure. Three men were killed and 19 of the ship's company were injured. After May 1945 the British Pacific Fleet withdrew to Sydney and Manus for refits and, in the cases of Victorious , Formidable and Indefatigable , for repairs to battle damage. The British fleet rendezvoused with

9396-543: Was Operation Crimson on 25 July, a joint attack with HMS Illustrious on airfields near Sabang in Sumatra . In late August, she provided air cover for Eastern Fleet ships that were providing air-sea rescue facilities for US Army aircraft during air attacks on Sumatra ( Operation Boomerang ). On 29 August, in company with HMS Illustrious and Indomitable and escorted by HMS Howe , Victorious made air strikes on Padang , Indaroeng and Emmahaven (Operation Banquet). After

9504-402: Was a success for the allies: supplies, including oil and reinforcing Supermarine Spitfires allowed Malta to hold out, albeit at the cost of the loss of nine merchant ships, one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and a destroyer. In September 1942, Victorious was taken in hand for a refit that included the installation of an aircraft direction room . After trials, she was ready to participate in

9612-482: Was added on an extension to the aft-end of the flight deck, which increased deck space. Victorious was also equipped with the US Navy YB-type aircraft-homing system, TBS (Talk Between Ships) system, surface- and air-search radars, a vertical plotting board, and American cypher machines. Additional 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns were fitted, along with American Mark 51 fire-control directors. A control station

9720-560: Was added to the hangar deck, and a new fire-suppression system for the crew spaces. Victorious passed through the Panama Canal on 14 February to operate with United States forces in the Pacific . Her crew suffered an outbreak of diphtheria and medical supplies were dropped to her by air on 21 February. Victorious arrived at Pearl Harbor in March 1943 and was fitted with heavier arrester wires as RN wires had proved too light for

9828-701: Was assigned the radio call sign "Robin" and was informally known as "USS Robin" tongue-in-cheek. After crossing the Atlantic from Greenock , via the Royal Naval Dockyard on the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda , to refit in the United States at the Norfolk Navy Yard during January, 1943. Her Fairey Albacore torpedo-bombers were replaced with Grumman Avengers , requiring the arrestor wires to be strengthened. A new "7 wire"

9936-547: Was available for Operation Lentil , a repeat raid on the oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan with HM Ships Indomitable and Implacable . Further raids on Japanese oil and port installations in Sumatra were made on 16 January. By late January, the BPF had finally quit Ceylon and was en route to its new home base in Sydney . The voyage was interrupted on 24 January for another series of raids, this time on Pladjoe and Manna in south west Sumatra ( Operation Meridian ) during which there

10044-586: Was badly damaged and she was scuttled; surviving crew were rescued by HMS Opportune . USS  Hornet was sunk and USS  Enterprise was badly damaged at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands , leaving the United States Navy with only one fleet carrier, USS  Saratoga , operational in the Pacific. In late December 1942, Victorious was loaned to the US Navy after an American plea for carrier reinforcement. Whilst in US service she

10152-483: Was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic . Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleship Bismarck , several Arctic convoys , and Operation Pedestal . She was loaned to the United States Navy in 1943 and served in the south west Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. In 1944 Victorious contributed to several attacks on

10260-476: Was detached to Gibraltar , where the Hurricanes were uncrated by Victorious ' s crew, with 20 Hurricanes transferred to Ark Royal . The two carriers left Gibraltar on 13 June to carry out Operation Tracer to deliver the Hurricanes to Malta, with 47 aircraft being launched on 14 June from a position south of the Balearic Islands . 43 Hurricanes landed safely on Malta. Victorious returned to

10368-418: Was encountered. On 8 October, Victorious carried out another attack against shipping off Norway, with her Albacores damaging two merchant ships with bombs. In November 1941, decrypted German Enigma signals indicated a break-out into the Atlantic by the German warships Admiral Scheer and Tirpitz . Victorious was deployed to Iceland with the battleships King George V in response, working with

10476-433: Was fitted. At the end of March, Victorious with Anson and Duke of York formed Force 1, covering the passage of Convoy JW 58 . On 2 April 1944, Force 1 joined with Force 2, composed of the aging carrier HMS  Furious and the escort carriers HMS  Emperor , Fencer , Pursuer , and Searcher as well as numerous cruisers and destroyers. The combined force launched an attack ( Operation Tungsten ) on

10584-484: Was formed at Trincomalee on 22 November 1944 from elements of the Eastern Fleet and Victorious was transferred to the new fleet. From November 1944 until January 1945 the BPF stayed in the Indian Ocean, training and gaining experience that they would need when working with the United States Navy. Victorious , however, remained under repair at Bombay until January 1945 and missed raids on oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan ( Operation Robson ). In early January 1945, she

10692-476: Was heading back to Norway, Victorious was ordered to search for and attack the German battleship. Six Albacores were flown off Victorious on 0640 hr on 9 March to search for Tirpitz , followed by a strike force of 12 torpedo-armed Albacores at 0732 hr. One of the search aircraft spotted Tirpitz and directed the strike force to its target, but when the Albacores attacked, the attack was unsuccessful, with all torpedoes missing and two Albacores being shot down. In

10800-405: Was increased; new armament of 3 inch (76 mm) guns was installed; a fully angled flight deck (of 8 degrees) and steam catapults were added. Her radar equipment was extensively altered to include up to date equipment, and included the first type 984 3-D radar system to be installed on a ship. While it was hoped she could operate a full air group of 50 aircraft, the rapid increase in size of

10908-587: Was little opposition from Japanese aircraft. This was followed on 29 January by unsuccessful attacks on oil installations at Soengi-Gerong . This time, the Japanese attempted air attacks on the British fleet but these were beaten off. Total aircraft losses by all carriers were 16 aircraft in action and another 25 lost by ditching or on landing. Nine Fleet Air Arm pilots captured by the Japanese were executed in April 1945. In early February, Victorious joined Task Force 113 (TF113) at Sydney to prepare for service with

11016-539: Was recalled home. Though the Japanese had four carriers to Ramsey's two, it seemed clear that they were not intending to press their advantage and the first two carriers of the new Essex class had arrived at Pearl Harbor well ahead of schedule. Victorious left for Pearl Harbor on 31 July, leaving behind her Avengers as replacements for Saratoga , sailing in company with battleship Indiana and launching 165 anti submarine sweeps en route. She also carried US pilots finishing their tours as well as two Japanese POWs. After

11124-398: Was redesignated Task Group 36.3 and sailed to provide cover for the invasion of New Georgia (part of Operation Cartwheel ). Victorious spent the next 28 days continuously in combat operations at sea, a record for a British carrier, steaming 12,223 miles at an average speed over 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and launching 614 sorties. Returning to Nouméa on 25 July, Victorious

11232-405: Was relatively minor, the fire coincided with a reduction of the defence budget and a manpower shortage for the Royal Navy. Together with the 1966 decision to phase out fixed-wing naval aviation, it was decided at very short notice not to recommission Victorious . Her captain was told of this just one day before the scheduled recommissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held by the ship's crew anyway as

11340-416: Was scrapped in 1969. Victorious was one of two Illustrious -class aircraft carriers ordered from Vickers-Armstrong under the 1936 Construction Programme for the Royal Navy. The cost of the new carriers was estimated to be £ 2,395,000 each. Victorious was laid down at Vickers' Walker Naval Yard, Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 4 May 1937 as Admiralty Job Number J4035 and Yard number 11. Construction

11448-716: Was slowed by the unavailability of armour plate, with Victorious launched on 14 September 1939, with Augusta Inskip, wife of Thomas Inskip , the Lord Chancellor , as sponsor. The carrier was commissioned at the shipyard on 29 March 1941, leaving Walker for Sea trials and passage to Rosyth dockyard on 16 April 1941. The first task given to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier was to ferry Hawker Hurricane fighters to Malta . 48 crated Hurricanes were loaded aboard Victorious at Rosyth on 14 May 1941, and on 15 May she sailed for Scapa Flow to join Convoy WS 8B to

11556-624: Was the introduction of the Kriegsmarine 's largest vessels, Bismarck and Tirpitz . Bismarck was heavily damaged and sunk/scuttled after a series of sea battles in the north Atlantic in 1941, while Tirpitz was destroyed by the Royal Air Force in 1944. The British Royal Navy gained dominance of the European theatre by 1943. The Second World War brought massive changes in the design and role of several types of warships. For

11664-461: Was to participate in three further attacks on Tirpitz , in April and May (Operations Planet, Brawn, and Tiger Claw), but these were cancelled due to bad weather and anti-shipping strikes were substituted. On 30 May, an acoustic torpedo attack by U-957 against Victorious failed and subsequently she made more shipping attacks off Norway (Operation Lombard). In June 1944, Victorious , in company with HMS Indomitable , left British waters to join

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