Cruises
The Karel Doorman, frigate Johan Maurits van Nassau, and light cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck made a voyage to the Dutch Antilles on 2 January 1950. Embarked on the Karel Doorman was Prince Bernhard. The ships returned to Holland on 4 May.
In 1954, during a North American cruise, she visited Montreal, Canada for an air show appearance.
Early in 1959 the ship made a trip to the United States (Newport, Rhode Island and Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and then continued on to visit the Antilles again.
In 1960, during the Dutch decolonization and planned independence of Western New Guinea, a territory which was also claimed by Indonesia, the Karel Doorman set sail along with two destroyers and a modified oil tanker to "show the flag". In order to avoid possible problems with Indonesia's ally Egypt at the Suez Canal, she instead sailed around the horn of Africa. She arrived in Fremantle, Australia, where the local seamen's union struck in sympathy with Indonesia; the crew used the propeller thrust of aircraft chained down on deck to nudge the carrier into dock without tugs. In addition to her air wing, she was ferrying twelve Hawker Hunter fighters to bolster the local Dutch defence forces, which she delivered when she arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea. The Karel Doorman was also to have visited Yokohama, Japan during this Asian cruise to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the establishment of Japanese-Dutch diplomatic relations but, due to Indonesian and local protests, Japan withdrew its invitation.
After the 1964 refit, the Karel Doorman served the rest of her career mostly conducting NATO anti-submarine patrols in the north Atlantic, no longer carrying strike or fighter aircraft as part of her regular air wing.
The Karel Doorman also regularly conducted various exercises near Scotland during her career.
Read more about this topic: HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81)