HMAS Sydney (R17)

HMAS Sydney arriving in Port Melbourne in 1949
History
Australian Navy
Namesake	City of Sydney
Builder	HM Dockyard Devonport, England
Laid down	19 April 1943
Launched	30 September 1944
Commissioned	16 December 1948
Decommissioned	30 May 1958
Recommissioned	7 March 1962
Decommissioned	12 November 1973
Reclassified	Training ship (22 April 1955) Fast troop transport (7 March 1962)
Motto	"Thorough and Ready"
Nickname(s)	Vung Tau Ferry (as fast troop transport)
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Korea 1951–52 Malaysia 1964 Vietnam 1965–72 plus seven inherited honours
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1975
Badge
General characteristics as aircraft carrier
Class and type	Majestic-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	15,740 tons (standard) 19,550 tons (deep)
Length	630 ft (190 m) between perpendiculars 698 ft (213 m) overall
Beam	80 ft (24 m)
Draught	25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion	4 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers Parsons single reduction geared turbines 2 shafts 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Speed	24.8 knots (45.9 km/h; 28.5 mph)
Complement	1,100 (peace) 1,300 (war) Both include Fleet Air Arm personnel
Sensors and processing systems	2 × 227Q 1 × 293M 1 × 960/281BQ 1 × 961
Armament	30 × Bofors 40 mm guns (18 single mountings, 6 twin mountings)
Aircraft carried	Up to 38 aircraft
Notes	Taken from:[1][2]
General characteristics as fast troop transport
Type	Fast Troop Transport
Displacement	14,380 tons (standard) 19,550 tons (full load)
Boats & landing craft carried	6 × LCM Mark VI (1968 onwards)
Complement	544 core Increased to 1,000 when required
Armament	4 × Bofors 40 mm guns (4 single mountings)
Aircraft carried	4 × Wessex helicopters (occasionally embarked)
Notes	Other characteristics as above Taken from:[1][2]

HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P214/L134) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built for the Royal Navy and was launched as HMS Terrible (93) in 1944, but was not completed before the end of World War II. The carrier was sold to Australia in 1947, completed, and commissioned into the RAN as Sydney in 1948.

Sydney was the first of three conventional aircraft carriers^[a] to serve in the RAN, and operated as the navy's flagship during the early part of her career. From late 1951 to early 1952, she operated off the coast of Korea during the Korean War, making her the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion, and the only carrier in the RAN, to see wartime service. Retasked as a training vessel following the 1955 arrival of her modernised sister ship, HMAS Melbourne, Sydney remained in service until 1958, when she was placed in reserve as surplus to requirements.

The need for a sealift capability saw the ship modified for service as a fast troop transport, and recommissioned in 1962. Sydney was initially used for training and a single supply run in support of Malaysia's defence policy against Indonesia, but in 1965, she sailed on the first voyage to Vũng Tàu, transporting soldiers and equipment to serve in the Vietnam War. 25 voyages to Vietnam were made between 1965 and 1972, earning the ship the nickname "Vung Tau Ferry".

Sydney was decommissioned in 1973, and was not replaced. Despite several plans to preserve all or part of the ship as a maritime museum, tourist attraction, or car park, the carrier was sold to a South Korean steel mill for scrapping in 1975.

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