The Aircaft Carrier Victorious


Printed:	1991	Author:	Ross Watton
Publisher:	Conway Maritime Press	ISBN:	0851775802
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Publisher's blurb
The distinguished career of the carrier Victorious extended from World War II to 1967 and included a major refit during the 1950s, after which she emerged as the Royal Navy's most up-to-date carrier, with an angled flight deck and the best shipborne air defence radar in the world.
The author's drawings show all the changes which she underwent during her long career, while the text focuses especially on her war service which included a number of daring airstrikes, most notably against the German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. Later she sailed for the Far East where she was part of the British Pacific Fleet operating alongside the US Navy; there she withstood several kamikaze attacks.
Her career was brought to a premature end after a mess deck fire caused extensive damage.
This volume features:

A full description of the ship, including the armoured box hangar, and the post-war modifications, as well as an outline of her service history.
A photographic section which features onboard and close-up views of the ship and her equipment from different stages in her career.
A colour guide and action painting on the jacket.
Over 350 perspective and 3-view drawings, with in-depth descriptive keys, of every detail of the ship. Also included are drawings of all the different aircraft which she carried.

A complete anatomy of the ship in words, photographs and drawings.
From 1941 to 1943 Victorious wore this pattern of Admiralty disruptive camouflage. It consisted of four shades of grey
Personal remarks:
Having served onboard HMS Victorious during all her commissions following her modernisation you may imagine, dear surfer, how valuable this book is to me. I have pored over every drawing of my former home for some eight years and from them found it easy to recreate the onboard atmosphere in my mind's eye. Of course in such a huge work there are a number of minor errors and discrepancies but they are entirely excusable considering that changes were made hourly to that ship. I know from my own personal experience of 984/CDS that our department was never able to keep our "Kalamazoo" up-to-date. I was and remain particularly interested in the ship's exploits during W.W.II and this book brings to life her structural particulars at that time. A must for anybody who had anything to do with "The Mighty Vic"!