Construction and Acquisition
The ship was laid down by HM Dockyard Devonport in England as HMS Terrible on 19 April 1943, with the Viscountess Astor presiding over the ceremony. She was the only aircraft carrier of the Colossus or Majestic classes to be constructed in a 'royal dockyard': a dockyard owned and operated by the Royal Navy. She was launched on 30 September 1944 by the wife of British politician Duncan Sandys. Work on the ship continued until the end of World War II, when the Admiralty ordered the suspension of all warship construction.
A post-war review by the Australian government's Defence Committee recommended that the RAN be restructured around a task force incorporating multiple aircraft carriers. Initial plans were for three carriers, with two active and a third in reserve at any given time, although funding cuts led to the purchase of only two carriers in June 1947; Terrible and sister ship Majestic, for the combined cost of AU£2.75 million, plus stores, fuel, and ammunition. As Terrible was fitted out as a flagship and was the closer of the two ships to completion, construction was finished without major modification. Although Terrible was due for completion on 24 June 1948, a skilled labour shortage affected the installation of the ship's boilers, causing the Admiralty to revise the delivery date to October 1948.
A commissioning crew for the aircraft carrier was raised in Australia from the ship's company of the decommissioned cruiser Hobart, which departed from Sydney aboard HMAS Kanimbla in June 1948. Ex-Royal Navy sailors were used to fill out the carrier's complement. Terrible was handed over to the RAN on 16 December 1948, and was commissioned at noon as HMAS Sydney. One of the reasons behind the choice in name was so AU£426,000 raised by the HMAS Sydney Replacement Fund after the loss of the light cruiser HMAS Sydney in 1941 could be accessed. Sydney was the last vessel to be commissioned into the RAN as 'His' Majesty's Australian Ship: as after the death of King George VI on 6 February 1952 and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, all RAN ships became 'Her' Majesty's.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Sydney (R17)
Famous quotes containing the words construction and/or acquisition:
“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than convictions.”
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“Always and everywhere children take an active role in the construction and acquisition of learning and understanding. To learn is a satisfying experience, but also, as the psychologist Nelson Goodman tells us, to understand is to experience desire, drama, and conquest.”
—Carolyn Edwards (20th century)