page_title: HMS Centaur (R06)
section_title: First commission
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Centaur (R06) / Operational history / First commission
caption_attribution_description: A photo from 1955 showing the British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Centaur (R06) with the recently added 5.5° angled deck.
context_page_description: HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to be completed with the original design configuration of a straight axial flight deck, rather than the newly invented angled flight decks of her three later sister ships. She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast, with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff, but not launched until 22 April 1947 due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1 September 1953, a gap of almost nine years from when she was laid down in 1944.
  Centaur saw service throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Due to budgetary issues Centaur was not converted to a commando carrier like two of her sister ships. Centaur was withdrawn from service in August 1965 and sold for scrapping in 1972.
context_section_description: Centaur's first captain, appointed on 13 August 1953, was Captain H.P.Sears, RN, who remained with her until replaced in October 1954, by Captain H.C.F Rolfe, RN, who was to stay with her until the end of her first commission.
  Centaur's initial air group of 25 aircraft, as embarked in July 1954, consisted of nine Hawker Sea Hawk FGA6 of 806 Squadron, nine Hawker Sea Fury FB11 of 810 Squadron, six Grumman Avenger AS anti-submarine aircraft of 820 Squadron and one Westland Dragonfly HR5 of the ship's flight. Centaur was initially intended to join the Mediterranean Fleet for a period of four months, before heading east of Suez to relieve Warrior as the duty carrier in the Far East. As events transpired however, she was to remain in the Mediterranean until June 1955. Her activities during this period included exercises in company with her sister ship Albion and NATO allies, embarking British troops during the withdrawal from Trieste in October 1954, escorting the royal yacht Britannia during a Royal Tour and numerous visits to friendly ports. Whilst at Malta in February 1955, the Sea Furys of 810 Squadron were disembarked and the squadron later flew back to the UK to be disbanded; they were replaced by nine Sea Hawks of 803 Squadron which were transferred from Albion in March 1955. The Avenger AS4s of 820 Squadron were similarly replaced by six Avenger AS5s of 814 Squadron.
  From June 1955 until January 1956, Centaur was based in home waters and undertook a range of visits and exercises with other carriers of the fleet. After two months spent in Portsmouth from November 1955, she left for the Far East on 10 January 1956, in company with Albion. Further changes to her air-group saw the Avengers of 814 Squadron replaced by the re-formed 820 Squadron, with six Fairey Gannet AS4s. After passing through the Suez Canal, she visited Aden in February to undertake flying exercises with RAF Venoms based at RAF Khormaksar. This was followed by a visit to India, where the two carriers provided flying demonstrations for the Indian government, who were at that time interested in acquiring an aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. This eventually resulted in the purchase, the following year, of the incomplete Majestic-class aircraft carrier Hercules, completed in 1961 to an updated design as INS Vikrant. Further exercises were carried out in the Indian Ocean, before heading east to visit Hong Kong and Singapore. She crossed the line for the first time on 26 April en route back from Singapore to Devonport via Suez and Malta, arriving on 15 May 1956.
caption: Centaur in 1955
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