HMS Eagle

DESCRIPTION

Accession NumberP506Title (extended title only)Plaque - HMS EagleDescriptionDescription – Plaque – Small sized plaque with raised painted stone/ceramic motif of HMS Eagle
DateBetween 1st February 1968 and 30th September 1971ProvenanceHMS Eagle was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, in service 1951–1972. Until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in the 21st century, she and her sister Ark Royal were the two largest Royal Navy aircraft carriers ever built.
She was laid down on 24 October 1942 at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast as one of four ships of the Audacious class. These were laid down during the World War II as part of the British naval buildup during that conflict. Two were cancelled at the end of hostilities, and the remaining two were suspended. Originally called Audacious, she was renamed Eagle (the fifteenth Royal Navy ship to receive this name), taking the name of the cancelled third ship of the class on 21 January 1946. She was finally launched by Princess Elizabeth on 19 March 1946.
Although Eagle was completed in October 1951 without an angled flight deck, one was added three years later. In 1952 she took part in the first large NATO naval exercise, Exercise Mainbrace.
The ship served in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Eagle was paid off in January 1972 at Portsmouth after 20 years and 4 months of service, and was stripped of reusable equipment (radars and missile systems primarily), after which she was towed to Devonport where she was placed in reserve and moored in a stretch of the River Tamar known as the Hamoaze. In 1974, she was released from her moorings, towed up river, and secured in number 10 Dock, Devonport Dockyard, where she was further stripped of essential spares for Ark Royal, before being towed back to her mooring position.
Up until 1976 she was officially still in reserve, but having been exhausted as a source of spares for Ark Royal, Eagle was then sold for scrap and towed from Devonport on 14 October 1978 to Cairnryan near Stranraer to be broken up, clearing her mooring space for her sister and arriving there five days later. The lower hull of Eagle was still being broken up when her sister Ark Royal arrived at Cairnryan for demolition on 28 September 1980. One of her anchors (along with one of Ark Royal's) stands guard at the entrance to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.
Relevance to the CityThe HMS Eagle visited Fremantle twice, in February 1968 and September 1971. The picture below is from the State Library of WA catalogue from the 1968 visit-The 2nd image is from the 1971 visit-The plaque has both visit dates recorded on the back

SubjectRoyal Navy (British)CollectionCivic Collection

INTERNAL

LocationCivic Collection

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