HMS Victorious (R38)

HMS Victorious was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleship Bismarck, several Arctic convoys, and Operation Pedestal. She was loaned to the United States Navy in 1943 and served in the south west Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. In 1944 Victorious contributed to several attacks on the Tirpitz. The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to the Eastern Fleet at Colombo and then to the Pacific for the final actions of the war against Japan.

After the war, her service was broken by periods in reserve and, between 1950 and 1958, the most complete reconstruction of any Royal Navy carrier. This involved the construction of new superstructure above the hangar deck level, a new angled flight deck, new boilers and the fitting of Type 984 radar and data links and heavy shipboard computers, able to track 50 targets and assess their priority for interrogation and interception. The reduction of Britain's naval commitment in 1967, the end of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and a fire while under refit, prompted her final withdrawal from service, three to five years early, and she was scrapped in 1969.

Construction
Victorious was one of two Illustrious-class aircraft carriers ordered from Vickers-Armstrong under the 1936 Construction Programme for the Royal Navy. The cost of the new carriers was estimated to be £2,395,000 each. Victorious was laid down at Vickers' Walker Naval Yard, Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 4 May 1937 as Admiralty Job Number J4035 and Yard number 11. Construction was slowed by the unavailability of armour plate, with Victorious launched on 14 September 1939, with Augusta Inskip, wife of Thomas Inskip, the Lord Chancellor, as sponsor. The carrier was commissioned at the shipyard on 29 March 1941, leaving Walker for Sea trials and passage to Rosyth dockyard on 16 April 1941.

Bismarck episode
The first task given to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier was to ferry Hawker Hurricane fighters to Malta. 48 crated Hurricanes were loaded aboard Victorious at Rosyth on 14 May 1941, and on 15 May she sailed for Scapa Flow to join Convoy WS 8B to the Middle East. Following the sortie of the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck and cruiser GERMAN CRUISER Prinz Eugen, Victorious, despite not being worked up and having an understrength air wing (consisting of the nine biplane Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron and a flight of Fairey Fulmar fighters), was ordered to take part in the hunt for Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, sailing from Scapa Flow with the battleship HMS King George V (41), the battlecruiser HMS Repulse (1916) and 4 light cruisers on the evening of 22 May.

Late on 24 May 1941, Victorious launched nine of her Swordfishes, followed by three Fulmars to track the German battleship, with two more Fulmar later launched to relieve the first three Fulmars. The Swordfish, under the command of Eugene Esmonde, flew through foul weather and attacked Bismarck in the face of tremendous fire from anti-aircraft guns, scoring a hit to the 320 mm armoured belt with a torpedo. No aircraft were shot down during the attack, but two Fulmars ditched after they could not find the carrier in the dark because a rain squall had moved in and the carrier's homing beacon had failed. Victorious took no further part in the chase; aircraft from HMS Ark Royal (91) disabled Bismarck's steering gear, thus contributing to her sinking three days later. Esmonde received a DSO for his part in the action.

Convoy and other Arctic duties
On 31 May 1941, Victorious set out in another attempt to deliver the Hurricanes, sailing with troop convoy WS 8X. On 4 June 1941 a Swordfish of 825 Squadron from Victorious spotted the German supply ship Gonzenheim north of the Azores. Gonzenheim had been intended to support the Bismarck but was subsequently scuttled when approached by the battleship HMS Nelson (28) and cruiser HMS Neptune (20). On 5 June, Victorious was detached to Gibraltar, where the Hurricanes were uncrated by Victorious's crew, with 20 Hurricanes transferred to Ark Royal. The two carriers left Gibraltar on 13 June to carry out Operation Tracer to deliver the Hurricanes to Malta, with 47 aircraft being launched on 14 June from a position south of the Balearic Islands. 43 Hurricanes landed safely on Malta. Victorious returned to the naval base at Scapa Flow on 19 June with 63 captured crewmen from Gonzenheim.

Victorious embarked a new airwing in early July, consisting of the Fulmar-equipped 809 Squadron, and two squadrons (827 and 828 Squadrons) equipped with the Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber. In order to provide support to the Soviet Union following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the carriers Victorious and HMS Furious (47) were ordered to attack the ports of Kirkenes and Petsamo in the far north of Norway and Finland respectively. On 26 July a task force including the two carriers set out from Seyðisfjörður in Iceland. For the first part of the operation, the task force escorted the minelayer HMS Adventure (M23), on passage to Archangelsk with a cargo including mines, before leaving Adventure on 30 July. On 31 July the carriers launched their airstrikes, with Victorious launching 20 Albacores escorted by 12 Fulmars against Kirkenes, while Furious launched nine Sorwdfish and nine Albacores escorted by 6 Fulmars against Petsamo (now Pechanga, Russia). The attack against Kirkenes encountered heavy air opposition, with 11 Albacores and 2 Fulmars being shot down, while the attack on Petsamo lost another Albacore and two Fulmars.

During August, Victorious embarked 817 and 832 Squadrons, both equipped with Albacores to replace 827 and 828 Squadrons. From 24 to 30 August 1941, Victorious formed part of the distant escort force for the eight merchant ships of Operation Dervish, the first Arctic convoy of the war as they sailed from Iceland to Arkhangelsk, and then covered the aircraft carrier HMS Argus (I49) which was delivering Hurricanes to Murmansk (Operation Strength). On the return journey, Victorious launched attacks on 12 September against shipping in Vestfjorden, claiming two merchant ships sunk, including the Norwegian Hurtigruten coastal steamer Barøy, and against the Glomfjord hydro-electric power plant, an aluminium factory and a radio station. No opposition was encountered. On 8 October, Victorious carried out another attack against shipping off Norway, with her Albacores damaging two merchant ships with bombs.

In November 1941, decrypted German Enigma signals indicated a break-out into the Atlantic by the German warships Admiral Scheer and Tirpitz. Victorious was deployed to Iceland with the battleships HMS King George V (41) in response, working with the American battleships USS Idaho (BB-42) and USS Mississippi (BB-41), and cruisers USS Wichita (CA-45) and USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) to patrol the Denmark Strait in order to intercept any breakout. While Adolf Hitler cancelled the planned sortie on 17 November, Victorious continued patrols with the Home Fleet to stop any breakout, often in very poor weather, until the end of 1941.

On 19 February 1942, Victorious left Scapa Flow in company with the battleship HMS King George V (41), the cruiser HMS Berwick (65) and seven destroyers to attack shipping in the Tromsø region, but on 21 February an RAF Coastal Command aircraft spotted the German cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen on passage to Norway, and the British force was diverted to try and intercept the German ships, which turned back towards Germany on being sighted. On the night of 22/23 February Victorious launched two forces of 10 and 7 Albacores to search for and attack Scheer and  Prinz Eugen but they failed to locate their targets in conditions of poor visibility. Three of the Albacores were lost during the operation. The German force was not unscathed, as Prinz Eugen was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Trident (N52), sustaining damage that took months to repair.

In March 1942, the threat posed by Tirpitz, now based in Northern Norway, resulted in the Home Fleet providing a strong covering force, including Victorious, for the concurrent Arctic convoys PQ 12 (out-bound) and QP 8 (return). On 6 March 1942, Tirpitz and three destroyers sortied from Trondheim to attack the two convoys in Operation Sportpalast. On 7 March 1942, the German destroyer Friedrich Ihn encountered the Soviet freighter  Izhora, a straggler from QP 8. The freighter managed to report by radio that she was under attack by a surface ship before being sunk, informing the British that a German force was at sea and near the convoys. When signals intelligence indicated that Tirpitz was heading back to Norway, Victorious was ordered to search for and attack the German battleship. Six Albacores were flown off Victorious on 0640 hr on 9 March to search for Tirpitz, followed by a strike force of 12 torpedo-armed Albacores at 0732 hr. One of the search aircraft spotted Tirpitz and directed the strike force to its target, but when the Albacores attacked, the attack was unsuccessful, with all torpedoes missing and two Albacores being shot down. In the last week of March 1942, Victorious formed part of the covering force for convoy PQ 13 and QP 9. The carrier received significant weather damage from a force 9 gale with 65 ft waves buckling the ship's bow plating and forward bulkheads and requiring a short refit at Rosyth to repair the damage. Victorious continued to provide cover for Arctic Convoys for the rest April 1942, helping to provide cover for convoys PQ 14, and QP 10. From the end of April, until June, Anglo-American forces (including the US ships Washington, Tuscaloosa, and Wichita) covered convoys PQ 16, QP 12, PQ 17, and QP 13, after which Victorious returned to Scapa Flow.

The Arctic convoys had been suspended temporarily after the heavy losses suffered by Convoy PQ 17 when twenty-three out of thirty-six ships were sunk. This was after the convoy had been scattered in the belief that an attack was imminent by the German warships Admiral Hipper, Lützow, Admiral Scheer, and Tirpitz.

Pedestal
The suspension of the Arctic convoys released Victorious to take part in a "last chance" attempt to resupply Malta – Operation Pedestal. Malta-bound Convoy WS 21S departed Britain on 3 August 1942 escorted by Victorious with HMS Nelson (28) and cruisers HMS Nigeria (60), Kenya and Manchester. Exercises (Operation Berserk) were performed with aircraft carriers HMS Indomitable (R92), Furious, Eagle and Argus to improve operational techniques.

Pedestal began on 10 August 1942 and involved a great array of ships in several coordinated groups; two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and thirty two destroyers. Some of the carriers were transporting aircraft for Malta's defence and fourteen merchant ships carried supplies. On 12 August 1942 Victorious was slightly damaged by an attack from Italian bombers. Eagle was less fortunate, being torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on her return journey to Gibraltar. Ultimately Pedestal was a success for the allies: supplies, including oil and reinforcing Supermarine Spitfires allowed Malta to hold out, albeit at the cost of the loss of nine merchant ships, one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and a destroyer.

In September 1942, Victorious was taken in hand for a refit that included the installation of an aircraft direction room. After trials, she was ready to participate in the North African landings.

Operation Torch
In November 1942, Victorious took part in the North African landings. Operation Torch, which involved 196 ships of the Royal Navy and 105 of the United States Navy, landed about 107,000 Allied soldiers. Ultimately successful, Operation Torch was the precursor to the later invasions of Sicily, Italy and France. Victorious provided air cover during the landings and made air attacks at Algiers and Fort Duree. Four of her Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters landed at Blida airfield to accept its surrender.

She left for Scapa Flow on 18 November and, while en route, Fairey Albacores of 817 Squadron depth charged GS U-517 off Cape Finisterre. The submarine's structure was badly damaged and she was scuttled; surviving crew were rescued by HMS Opportune.

Service with the US Navy
USS Hornet (CV-8) was sunk and USS Enterprise (CV-6) was badly damaged at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, leaving the United States Navy with only one fleet carrier, USS Saratoga (CV-3), operational in the Pacific. In late December 1942, Victorious was loaned to the US Navy after an American plea for carrier reinforcement. Whilst in US service she was assigned the radio call sign "Robin" and was informally known as "USS Robin" tongue-in-cheek. After crossing the Atlantic from Greenock, via the Royal Naval Dockyard on the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, to refit in the United States at the Norfolk Navy Yard during January, 1943. Her Fairey Albacore torpedo-bombers were replaced with Grumman Avengers, requiring the arrestor wires to be strengthened. A new "7 wire" was added on an extension to the aft-end of the flight deck, which increased deck space. Victorious was also equipped with the US Navy YB-type aircraft-homing system, TBS (Talk Between Ships) system, surface- and air-search radars a vertical plotting board, and American cypher machines. Additional 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns were fitted, along with an American Mark 51 fire-control directors. A control station was added to the hangar deck, and a new fire-suppression system for the crew spaces. Victorious passed through the Panama Canal on 14 February to operate with United States forces in the Pacific. Her crew suffered an outbreak of diphtheria and medical supplies were dropped to her by air on 21 February.



Victorious arrived at Pearl Harbor in March 1943 and was fitted with heavier arrester wires as RN wires had proved too light for the Grumman Avenger aircraft. Additional AA guns were also fitted. She sailed for the south-west Pacific, arriving at Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 17 May to form Carrier Division 1 with USS Saratoga. She sortied immediately for a week with Task Force 14, including Saratoga and battleships North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Indiana, sweeping against reported Japanese fleet activity, but without contact. Six aircraft were lost to accidents. Rear Admiral DeWitt Ramsey, commanding the division, carried out evaluation exercises and patrol sweeps in June and determined that Victorious had superior fighter control but handled Avenger aircraft poorly because of their weight. Accordingly, he transferred 832 Squadron FAA to the Saratoga and US Carrier Air Group 3 to the Victorious. Thereafter, Victorious's primary role was fighter cover and Saratoga mainly handled strikes.

On 27 June, TF14 was redesignated Task Group 36.3 and sailed to provide cover for the invasion of New Georgia (part of Operation Cartwheel). Victorious spent the next 28 days continuously in combat operations at sea, a record for a British carrier, steaming 12,223 miles at an average speed over 18 kn and launching 614 sorties. Returning to Nouméa on 25 July, Victorious was recalled home. Though the Japanese had four carriers to Ramsey's two, it seemed clear that they were not intending to press their advantage and the first two carriers of the new Essex class had arrived at Pearl Harbor well ahead of schedule. Victorious left for Pearl Harbor on 31 July, leaving behind her Avengers as replacements for Saratoga, sailing in company with battleship Indiana and launching 165 anti submarine sweeps en route. She also carried US pilots finishing their tours as well as two Japanese POWs. After a brief stop in San Diego, Victorious passed through the Panama Canal on 26 August and arrived at Norfolk Navy Yard 1 September, where specialized US equipment was removed. Returning home, she arrived at Greenock on the Clyde on 26 September 1943 where aircraft and stores were discharged awaiting refit.



Attack on Tirpitz
From December 1943 until March 1944, Victorious was under refit at Liverpool, where new radar was fitted. At the end of March, Victorious with Anson and Duke of York formed Force 1, covering the passage of Convoy JW 58. On 2 April 1944, Force 1 joined with Force 2, composed of the aging carrier HMS Furious (47) and the escort carriers HMS Emperor (D98), HMS Fencer (D64), HMS Pursuer (D73), and HMS Searcher (D40) as well as numerous cruisers and destroyers. The combined force launched an attack (Operation Tungsten) on the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz in Altafjord, Norway. This involved Barracudas in two waves, hitting the battleship fourteen times and strafing the ship's defences. Although near-misses caused flooding and there was serious damage to the superstructure, the ship's armour was not penetrated. Nonetheless, the attack put Tirpitz out of action for some months. The Task Force returned to Scapa Flow three days later.

Victorious was to participate in three further attacks on Tirpitz, in April and May (Operations Planet, Brawn, and Tiger Claw), but these were cancelled due to bad weather and anti-shipping strikes were substituted. On 30 May, an acoustic torpedo attack by GS U-957 against Victorious failed and subsequently she made more shipping attacks off Norway (Operation Lombard).

Eastern Fleet
In June 1944, Victorious, in company with HMS Indomitable, left British waters to join the Eastern Fleet at Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she arrived on 5 July. The Eastern Fleet, after a quiet period of trade protection and relative vulnerability, was now being reinforced with ships released from the Atlantic and Mediterranean, in preparation for offensive action against the Japanese.

After a short preparatory period, Victorious took part in a sequence of air attacks against Japanese installations. The first was Operation Crimson on 25 July, a joint attack with HMS Illustrious on airfields near Sabang in Sumatra. In late August, she provided air cover for Eastern Fleet ships that were providing air-sea rescue facilities for US Army aircraft during air attacks on Sumatra (Operation Boomerang). On 29 August, in company with HMS Illustrious and Indomitable and escorted by HMS Howe, Victorious made air strikes on Padang, Indaroeng and Emmahaven (Operation Banquet). After a short pause, on 18 September, Victorious and Indomitable attacked railway yards at Sigli in Sumatra followed by photo-reconnaissance of the Nicobar Islands (Operation Light). During Light, there was a "friendly fire" attack on HMS Spirit, fortunately without causing any casualties.

At the end of September, Victorious had a short interval at Bombay for repairs to her steering gear to remedy problems that had arisen during Operation Light. She rejoined the Eastern Fleet on 6 October. The next operation, Millet, was her last with the Eastern Fleet. On 17 October, she launched attacks on the Nicobar Islands and Nancowry harbour, with HMS Indomitable and escorted by HMS Renown. Enemy air attacks destroyed four aircraft and damaged five more. During early November, Victorious returned to Bombay for more work on her steering as more problems had arisen during Millet.

Sumatra
The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was formed at Trincomalee on 22 November 1944 from elements of the Eastern Fleet and Victorious was transferred to the new fleet. From November 1944 until January 1945 the BPF stayed in the Indian Ocean, training and gaining experience that they would need when working with the United States Navy. Victorious, however, remained under repair at Bombay until January 1945 and missed raids on oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan (Operation Robson).

In early January 1945, she was available for Operation Lentil, a repeat raid on the oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan with HM Ships Indomitable and Implacable. Further raids on Japanese oil and port installations in Sumatra were made on 16 January. By late January, the BPF had finally quit Ceylon and was en route to its new home base in Sydney. The voyage was interrupted on 24 January for another series of raids, this time on Pladjoe and Manna in south west Sumatra (Operation Meridian) during which there was little opposition from Japanese aircraft. This was followed on 29 January by unsuccessful attacks on oil installations at Soengi-Gerong. This time, the Japanese attempted air attacks on the British fleet but these were beaten off. Total aircraft losses by all carriers were 16 aircraft in action and another 25 lost by ditching or on landing. Nine Fleet Air Arm pilots captured by the Japanese were executed in April 1945.

Okinawa
In early February, Victorious joined Task Force 113 (TF113) at Sydney to prepare for service with the US 5th Fleet. At the end of the month, TF113 left Sydney for their forward base at Manus Island, north of New Guinea, and then continued, joining the 5th US Fleet at Ulithi on 25 March as Task Force 57 (TF57), supporting the American assault on Okinawa. The task allocated to the British force was to neutralise airfields in the Sakishima Gunto. From late March until 25 May, the British carriers Victorious, Illustrious (later replaced by Formidable), Indefatigable and Indomitable formed the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Philip Vian and they were in action against airfields on the Sakishima Islands (Operations Iceberg I and Iceberg II) and Formosa (Operation Iceberg Oolong).

The British carriers were attacked by kamikaze suicide aircraft and Victorious was hit on 4 and 9 May and near-missed on 1 April, but her armoured flight deck resisted the worst of the impacts. She remained on station and was back in operation within hours on each occasion, despite damage to an aircraft lift and steam piping in her superstructure. Three men were killed and 19 of the ship's company were injured.

Japan
After May 1945 the British Pacific Fleet withdrew to Sydney and Manus for refits and, in the cases of Victorious, Formidable and Indefatigable, for repairs to battle damage. The British fleet rendezvoused with the US 3rd Fleet on 16 July and became effectively absorbed into the American structure as a part of TF38 for the "softening up" of Japanese resistance within their home islands.

During the second half of July, aircraft from Victorious took part in a series of attacks on Japanese shipping, transport and airbases on Honshu and around the Inland Sea. In one notable attack in July, aircraft of 849 Squadron from Victorious located the Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo at Beppu Bay in Kyūshū and attacked her, inflicting serious damage that kept the ship out of the remainder of the war. In the main, however, British aircraft were excluded from the actions against the major Japanese naval bases; the Americans, for political reasons, preferred to reserve these targets for themselves.

War's end
Victorious was scheduled to leave for Manus Island with Task Force 37 (TF37) on 10 August 1945 to prepare for the anticipated invasion of Japan (Operation Olympic), and actually left on August 12, then proceeding to Sydney. The surrender of Japan on 15 August rendered the invasion moot. The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) commander had agreed to stay for one more day's operations, but the British arrangements could not stretch to a further delay and fuel shortages were insurmountable. The steering faults that had hampered Victorious in the Indian Ocean in late 1944 are believed to have continued.

On 31 August, Victorious's ship's company took part in the Victory Parade in Sydney.

Post-war
Victorious left Australia in September 1945, arrived back in Britain on 27 October and undertook three trips to collect servicemen and war brides of British servicemen from Australia and the Far East. In the winter of 1946–47, the first deck trials with the Hawker Sea Fury (Mark 10) took place aboard Victorious, leading to its approval for carrier operations in early 1947.

Victorious was reduced to the reserve at Devonport on 15 January 1947, on completion of her trooping duties. From June that year she was modified at Portsmouth Dockyard with additional accommodation and classrooms and on 1 October 1947, joined the Home Fleet Training Squadron, replacing the battleship HMS Nelson (28). In July 1948, Victorious was deployed to Portland Harbour in support of the sailing events at the 1948 London Olympic Games. In 1949 she was refitted at Rosyth and took part in several training cruises and Home Fleet exercises.

The ship was extensively reconstructed and modernised at Portsmouth Dockyard between 1950 and 1958. This took over eight years because of frequent design changes to allow for new technologies. The cost of the reconstruction increased from 5 million pounds to 30 million pounds creating what was in many respects a new ship. Her hull was widened, deepened, and lengthened; her machinery was replaced with Foster-Wheeler boilers; her hangar height was increased; new armament of 3 inch (76 mm) guns was installed; a fully angled flight deck (of 8 degrees) and steam catapults were added. Her radar equipment was extensively altered to include up to date equipment, and included the first type 984 3-D radar system to be installed on a ship. While it was hoped she could operate a full air group of 50 aircraft, the rapid increase in size of the jets coming into service limited her to operating no more than 28 aircraft (including helicopters).

On 25 September 1958 Commander J. D. Russell drowned in his Supermarine Scimitar after a failed attempt to land on Victorious for the first time after her refit. Although the landing hook engaged the arrestor wire, the wire itself snapped due to improper rigging and the aircraft then rolled slowly over the side. It sank very slowly, but the plane-guard helicopter crew couldn't release the pilot, and it was seen that Cdr Russell had opened his canopy and then closed it again, possibly an effect of gravity on the heavy frame. The other seven Scimitars in the stream diverted away to Yeovilton.

In 1960, after recommissioning into the Home Fleet on 14 January 1958, with work-ups and deployments in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, she portrayed both herself and HMS Ark Royal during the filming of the British film Sink the Bismarck!. This was despite post-war modifications significantly altering her appearance – the addition of an angled deck and a Type 984 "searchlight" radar. The actor Kenneth More who had served aboard Victorious as a junior officer, played a fictitious Admiralty Director of Operations. He is shown giving the order to detach Victorious from Convoy WS 8B, which was forming in the River Clyde in order to move almost 20,000 troops to the Middle East.

Victorious took part in Operation Vantage in support of Kuwait in July 1961. Later in 1961 she would sail to join the Far East Fleet. In 1964, she provided support for the newly independent state of Malaysia against territorial expansion by its neighbour, Indonesia. Her passage through the Sunda Strait caused the Sunda Straits Crisis between August and September 1964, which was settled peacefully when Indonesia agreed to allow Victorious to return through the Lombok Strait. In April 1966 she departed again to serve with the Far East Fleet for a year, during which she proved capable of landing and then launching a USN Phantom F-4 from USS Ranger (CV-61), returning to the UK for a refit period from June 1967.

General characteristics after reconstruction
General characteristics of Victorious after reconstruction.

Decommissioning
On 11 November 1967, after the completion of the 1967 refit and shortly before the start of what was intended as the ship's final commission, there was a relatively small fire, which was rapidly extinguished, in the chief petty officers' mess (resulting in one death and two hospitalisations ). Although damage was relatively minor, the fire coincided with a reduction of the defence budget and a manpower shortage for the Royal Navy. Together with the 1966 decision to phase out fixed-wing naval aviation, it was decided at very short notice not to recommission Victorious. Her captain was told of this just one day before the scheduled recommissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held by the ship's crew anyway as a "wake" for the ship. She was paid off in 1968 and placed on the Disposal List in 1969. She was sold later that year to British Shipbreakers and towed on 13 July 1969 to Faslane Naval Base, where she was broken up.