HMAS Carpentaria (ex HMS Vindictive) 1917-26
Solarium Au Backstory:
HMAS Carpentaria (ex Cavendish, ex Vindictive) was a Frobisher class cruiser
that was part of the original aircraft carrier trials group along with the
Furious and the Argus. Once trials were over the British were to fully
convert the ship but ran out of Aircraft carrier tonnage as allocated to them by
the Washington Treaty. The Australis Navy was looking for just such an
opportunity and the ship was 'purchased' under the 'lease' (sail now pay later)
scheme. The ship received its new name in 1926 on completion of its conversion.
Note had been taken of the enclosed bow on the Hermes and this was copied by all
of the Australis Navy carriers that followed.
The Carpentaria spent the period 1926 to 1934 exclusively tied to the trials
and training of pilots in aircraft carrier landings. The ship finally received
an air group of its own in 1935, when it was sent off to Darwin where its speed
meant it was able to operate with the battlecruiser force.
HMAS Carpentaria as the HMS Vindictive in 1918 prior to full conversion.
Fisherless RN Backstory:
With my Fisherless RN I have deleted the Courageous class which in real life
went on to be converted to CV's in the late 1920's. I replaced them with the one
or two converted Majestic class battleships, but this leaves a hole for the
trials carrier which Furious had filled. While it is much smaller, the
Vindictive (ex Cavendish) was used as part of that aircraft trials fleet. Also
required would be the acceleration of the conversion of either Argus or Eagle. I
have altered the Vindictive a bit to make it do the trials that Furious
undertook. In real life the Vindictive was virtually sidelined after 1930, in my
FRN it is fully converted during the early 30's.
As modernised
In 1934 the Vindictive had its afterdeck extended. This had been done after a
lot of airlanding accidents from trainee pilots landing 'short' and wiping out
the Captains Gig that was stored under the overhang aft. In 1936 the forepart of
the ship was plated in to increase the hangar space. Aircraft capacity increased
from 14 to 18-20 depending on size and type. In this state the ship joined the
Training Fleet as the Landing Trials support ship. All of the pre-war pilots
would have done there deck landing trials on the Vindictive. On the outbreak of
war the Vindictive was joined by the Argus and both were based on Liverpool. The
Vindictive had a small cadre of ten aircraft of its own, six Swordfish and four
Griffon fighters. On several occasions the Vindictive was used to escort the
large liners like the Queen Mary, Aquitania, Queen Elizabeth and others being
used as troop ships. Having a speed of 30 knots allowed Vindictive to keep up
with the troopers. Vindictive was also used on occasion to do the Malta fighter
run, launching Spitfires and Hurricanes to fly to Malta. It was on one of these
runs in early 1942 that Vindictive met its end. A U-Boat managing to hit
Vindictive with two torpedoes, the Vindictive travelling at 25 knots heeled over
and dove into the sea breaking its back and spilling a consignment of Spitfires
into the sea, the ship then broke in half, exploded and sunk.
| Displacement | 12,500 tons full load |
| Length | 623 ft |
| Breadth | 64 ft |
| Draught | 19 ft |
| Machinery | 4 shaft steam turbines 60,000shp |
| Speed | 28 knots |
| Range | 5,000 miles at 15 knots |
| Armour | 3" belt, 1.5" main deck |
| Armament | 2 x 4" (1x2) 4 x 2pd (1x4) 10 x 20mm (10x1) |
| Aircraft | 15-18 depending on type |
| Torpedoes | nil |
| Complement | 700 |
| Notes |
.PNG)
Original drawing of HMAS Carpentaria in the Solarium AU where the HMS Vindictive
is sold to Australis.