The British Carrier Strike Fleet after 1945

By David Hobbs

In 1945 the most powerful fleet in the Royal Navy's history was centred on nine aircraft carriers. This book charts the post-war fortunes of this potent strike force – its decline in the face of diminishing resources, its final fall at the hands of uncomprehending politicians, and its recent resurrection in the form of the Queen Elizabeth class carriers, the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy.
After 1945 'experts' prophesied that nuclear weapons would make conventional forces obsolete but British carrier-borne aircraft were almost continuously employed in numerous conflicts as far apart as Korea, Egypt, the Persian Gulf, the South Atlantic, East Africa and the Far East, often giving successive British Governments options when no others were available. In the process the Royal Navy invented many of the techniques and devices crucial to modern carrier operations – angled decks, steam catapults and deck-landing aids – while also pioneering novel forms of warfare like helicopter-borne assault, and tactics for countering such modern plagues as insurgency and terrorism.
This book combines narratives of these poorly understood operations with a clear analysis of the strategic and political background, benefiting from the author's personal experience of both carrier flying and the workings of Whitehall. It is an important but largely untold story, of renewed significance as Britain once again embraces carrier aviation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Oct 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781848324121

David Hobbs

UK

Reviews for The British Carrier Strike Fleet after 1945

[shrike58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When it comes to aviation and the Royal Navy it seems safe to say that if David Hobbs doesn't know it then it's probably not important. However, it also means that this tome often has some of the flavor of official history and feels more like a reference book than a narrative history. Anyway, the real core of this work is the "CVA-1" debacle of the 1960s which almost drove the RN out of the carrier business, even though there was a continuing need for to provide air support for the British expeditionary mission. Hobbs observes that there was something of a perfect storm situation between how the RN wasn't managing its resources very well, the RAF was traumatized by the loss of the main nuclear deterrent mission to the RN and apparently determined to sabotage the project (to save its own nuclear-armed bomber force) and an economic situation that was bad and couldn't be ignored by Britain's political leadership. Whatever the issues with the new British fleet carriers and their air groups Hobbs observes that they represent a capability that never should have been lost in the first place so long as London has a serious interest in force projection.

[charlesferdinand_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very exhaustive history of British carrier operations after WW II, both with the well know highlights (Korea, Suez, Falklands) and with lesser known operations in the Middle East or Asian waters. The various aircraft programmes are also discussed.Just two small quibbles: a systematic overview of which carriers were in service and their general characteristics would have been practical. Secondly, the style is textbook-dry.