Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

HMAS Melbourne pictured at Pearl Harbor on May 8th 1978...USS Kitty Hawk in the background.

Undated...Majestic Class Light Fleet Carrier HMAS Melbourne.

Minimal mods compared to several of this RN CVL type, but useful ships for quite some time! DFO

Majestic Class Light Fleet Carrier HMAS Melbourne pictured undergoing a replenishment at sea from Tide Class Fleet Tanker HMAS Supply,(Ex RFA Tide Austral) c1970.

Undated...HMAS Melbourne.

In her role as a Troop Transport,Majestic Class Light Fleet Carrier HMAS Sydney (The Vung Tau Ferry) is pictured as she departs Garden Island for Vietnam in 1968

Hitting the ol rum to much??????? DFO

designeraccd wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 1:10 pm Good, low coast CVLs! I can never remember what made for the 2 different classes tho??? Maybe Brian can jog my failing memory? DFO

Well, it was mainly in order to handle the incre4asing size & weight of modern aircraft, as well as to improve the anti-aircraft gun outfit.

The catapult, arrestor cables, and aircraft lifts had to be upgraded to handle faster and heavier aircraft, while the flight deck & hangar deck were reinforced. Improved weapons and radars were fitted, and equipment to perform replenishment at sea was installed. The electrical generation plant was increased from 180kw to 400kw. The added weight etc was compensated for by reducing aircraft petrol stowage from 448,200l to 303,000l (although fuel oil was increased from 3,200t to 3,480t).

Welcome back aboard, MARINE! You will find this Forum is much friendlier than the old one sadly became. Good to have you back to share your nautical knowledge..... DFO

HMAS Melbourne pictured at Street Pier,Melbourne in 1979.