Talk:HMS Eagle (R05)

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Having learned that Eagle took part in the bombing of the Torrey Canyon i'm making this note to find a source and put it in the article. Britmax 04:53, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 06:01, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Duncan Bannatyne served on this ship
Duncan Bannatyne from the Dragons Den served in the Royal Navy and on this ship. In a proogram about the Dragon's backgrounds, it shows his naval service record and you can clearly see "HMS Eagle" listed in the top right corner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ben200 (talk • contribs) 00:31, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

How good a condition was Eagle in when she ended her active service
Does anyone have access to facts on what condition Eagle was in when she ended her active service?

The reason for asking is that whoever wrote part of the article assumed that she was in good condition. Maybe this is true, but it needs backing up with citations.

I have been told that during the time she was 'in reserve', some of her side armour was found to be held on by rust. However I do not have a reliable source for this; nor do I know how extensive the problem was.--Toddy1 (talk) 22:34, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Eagle/Ark Royal
I served on the Eagle for the length of the last commission. While the ship was out the Far East and a decision being made which ship would be scrapped, this was likely to be Eagle as "the living conditions on Ark Royal were slightly better". As the mess decks on Eagle were grossly overcrowded this story was widely believed on Eagle.

When Eagle finally docked in the UK for the last time, the story on board at the time was that the ships condition was so bad that it was only the armour belt holding it together.

My favourite memory though has though has to be when after returning from trials following the expensive refit the ship ran over some rocks near Drakes Island. Apart from the welcome extra UK time gained, while repairs were made, Captain IGW Robertson RN became known as "I Ground Warships" Robertson.AT Kunene (talk) 07:39, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Torry Canyon
What is the source for stating that the "Eagle" was involved in the bombing of the Torrey Canyon? I have copies of the last two commissioning books and there is no mention of any such bombing.

According to the UK press at the time, it was the RAF who bombed the Torrey Canyon and for the first time, revealed that the RAF had stocks of the napalm bombs used in the bombing.AT Kunene (talk) 10:03, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

The strike aircraft were FAA Buccaneers (with 1,000lb bombs) from Lossiemouth and Brawdy, Sea Vixens (with rockets because the bombs kept missing) from Yeovilton and RAF Hunters (with cans of jet fuel and then napalm bombs) from Chivenor. All shore-based. Eagle wasn't recommissioned for trials till a week later, and then caught fire and was in dock for another month. Khamba Tendal (talk) 23:27, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Overrun costs
At about the time that Eagle began the estimated 11 million conversion and renovation, Cammell Laird stated that they could build a brand new aircraft carrier the size of Eagle for 31 million. The final cost was as stated 30 million and a bad bargain.AT Kunene (talk) 15:13, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971
A section in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 article suggests that a Russian video mentions Eagle being deployed to the Indian Ocean in December 1971 along with the well-known USA and USSR battlegoups. Could that be true? 188.221.129.72 (talk) 20:16, 11 December 2011 (UTC)The Eagle did deploy to the far East in 1971, mainly for the ceremonial functions held when the Royal Navy closed its Singapore base and officially withdrew its forces from East of Suez at the end of the year, although a small naval squadron was maintained at Singapore until 1976 and a squadron restored to the Persian Gulf a couple of years later. During this final 1971 deployment Eagle was still carrying its full squadron force of Buccanears and Sea Vixens.

Indian Ocean 1971
As above, I did serve on Eagle for the last commission.

Could the section about being scrapped despite being good for another ten years be removed as totally inaccurate.

As the Eagle came up the Atlantic to dock for scrapping it was falling apart. One of the main turbine generators was barely functioning but as it had had a brass label to say that it had been manufactured in 1934, this was hardly surprising. All of which always made me wonder where the vast conversion sums had really been spent

The Eagle did serve considerable time in the Indian Ocean with military flying exercises involving aircraft from Gan. I don't remember any mention of an American or Russian battlefleet but whenever flying exercises were in progress there were usually Russian trawlers in the area but nothing larger that I ever heard about. AT Kunene (talk) 10:03, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Having served that last commission on board Eagle there are a couple of minor mysteries that still could be clarified.

One such was when the ship reached the Indian Ocean there seemed to be a considerable time undertaking a lot of flying exercises using the nearby RAF Gan surface targets.

At the time the ship was swept by rumors on the lines of:-

"We're stooging around here while waiting from an answer from UK as Harold Wilson wants a big American loan and Johnson is leaning on Wilson to send this ship to Viet Nam as part of the deal"

Does anybody have any further information about this?

In the end the ship, much to everybody's relief did eventually go to Singapore as part of the Independence. AT Kunene 123 (talk) 11:12, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

That might have happened on the 1967-8 cruise, when Johnson was certainly pressuring Wilson -- but there was never any chance of Britain joining the Vietnam war. By 1971 Heath was at No.10 and Nixon was in the White House, and there was still no chance. Khamba Tendal (talk) 23:35, 27 August 2016 (UTC)


 * " ... Johnson was certainly pressuring Wilson ... " - hardly, Johnson was stated in offical histories to have 'pleaded with Wilson' to get the UK involved in Vietnam. Wilson said "No" to a large extent because of Suez, and neither he, nor Heath's subsequent government, could be budged. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.149.173.52 (talk) 16:24, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

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Article problems
This goes into copious detail about the various reconstructions that Eagle went through and the relevant politics (although with limited references), but says almost nothing about what the ship did, which included a major part in a war (i.e. Suez).Nigel Ish (talk) 18:29, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

First? Or second?
> She was laid down on 24 October 1942 [.....] during the First World War

Are we sure 1942 was the *First* world war? Are we sure it was 1942? I'm reluctant to change as I don't know which would be right. Guinness2702 (talk) 10:53, 14 June 2024 (UTC)