HMS Centaur (R06) - Operations

Operations

In June 1961, President Abd al-Karim Qasim of Iraq announced that Kuwait would be annexed by Iraq; the Emir of Kuwait requested assistance from the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The UK activated Operation Vantage and immediately sent HMS Victorious and accompanying vessels. HMS Bulwark landed a company of 42 Commando, Royal Marines at Kuwait airport. HMS Centaur arrived later to relieve Victorious. Iraq recognised Kuwaiti sovereignty in 1963, after Kassim had been killed in a coup.

During the crisis in Aden, from 1963 onwards, Sea Vixens from HMS Centaur launched strikes on rebellious tribesmen in the Radfan during Operation Damon. In 1964, a mutiny occurred in Tanganyika. The 1st Tanganyika Rifles, who were based near the capital Dar-es-Salaam, had mutinied against their British officers, as well as seizing the British High Commissioner and taking over the airport. Britain decided, after urgent appeals for help, to deploy Centaur accompanied by 815 Naval Air Squadron along with 45 Commando, Royal Marines. When HMS Centaur arrived at Dar-es-Salaam, a company of Royal Marines were landed by helicopter on a football field, next to the barracks of the mutineers. The company assaulted the barracks with full force in a chaotic but swift attack, securing the entrance to the barracks. After a call for the mutinous soldiers to surrender failed, the company demolished the front of the guardroom, with a deftly placed shot from an anti-tank rocket launcher. The culmination of the decision proved successful, with a large number of distressed soldiers pouring out into the open. Later on, four Sea Vixens from HMS Centaur provided cover for more Royal Marines, who were now landing on an air strip. The operation was a success and the rest of the mutineers soon surrendered, with the main culprits being arrested. Many Tanganyikans were jubilant when the country was restored to a stable and peaceful environment. The Royal Marine Band displayed the British forces appreciation of the happy welcoming that they had received from the Tanganyikans while attempting to restore the country to stability, by taking part in a heavy schedule of marches through the streets of Tanganyika. HMS Centaur left on 29 January, nine days after originally sailing for what was then a country in crisis.

The following year, after conversion to a commando carrier, like her sister-ships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, was cancelled, she was consigned to the role of accommodation ship for the crew of HMS Victorious while the latter ship undertook a refit. In 1966, Centaur was again an accommodation ship, this time for HMS Eagle, while that ship was going through a refit. In 1970, she was towed to Devonport where she would await her fate for a further two years when finally she was towed to Cairn Ryan and broken up.