Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Karel Doorman Supercarrier (Fictional)
The livery is based on the Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Karel Doorman R81 in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy fr om the late 1940s to the late 1960s.
The Karel Doorman started life in 1942 in Birkenhead wh ere it was built by Camell Laird Shipyards as a Colossus Class light carrier. In 1943 the hull was launched
as the HMS Venerable. On the 17th of January 1945 the ship was taken into service, too late to see action during World War Two. In 1947 the vessel was decomissioned
and put up for sale. In 1948 the Royal Netherlands Navy showed interest.
In 1949, after a heavy modification the ship was commissioned by the Royal Netherlands Navy. The aircraft carrier had enough room to house 12 fighters and
24 reconnaissance aircraft. 860 Naval Air Squadron using Fairy Swordfish were the assigned squadron. During the first few months a lot of accidents happened,
as the squadron did not have any experience in carrier operations. The ship was however sent to both the Caribean and the Dutch Indies shortly after.
A few years later the Karel Doorman drew a lot of fire, politically speaking. NATO, the Royal and the US Navy did not need a large Netherlands Navy and wanted
the Dutch navy to focus on counter mine operations instead. Luckily for the Karel Doorman the rise of the Soviet navy in the 1960s changed the political opinion.
In 1955 the HNLMS Karel Doorman underwent a second major modification. The biggest changes were the newly invented angled deck, an early optical landing system
and the launch catapult in order to launch heavier jet aircraft.
After the modification the navy got a new air wing for the carrier, consisting of Hawker Sea Hawk jetfighters, Grumman S2F Tracker reconnaissance and anti submarine
aircraft and Sikorsky S51 helicopters.
On the 28th of May 1968 a major fire erupted in both engine rooms. The damage was significant and would have taken almost a year to repair. This was a final blow
to the carrier as the vessel was decommisioned shortly after the fire.
The Karel Doorman was sold to Argentina and would received the name 'Veinticinco de Mayo'. The carrier would sail for the Argentine Navy up to the year 2000.
The Veinticinco de Mayo was sent to the Falklands in 1982 however after the sinking of General Belgrano the Veinticinco de Mayo would retreat out of fear of being
sunk by the Royal Navy submarines in the area.
Because of this the Veinticinco de Mayo and therefore Karel Doorman can already be found in DCS as the Argentine vessel.
The motto of the HNLMS Karel Doorman was 'I am attacking, follow me!'.
These were the final words of Rear Admiral Karel Doorman during the Battle of the Java sea. The Rear Admiral was in command of the allied force in the region.
The force consisted of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and nine destroyers. During the battle the allies tried to stop a Japanese invasion fleet
from landing in the Dutch Indies. The allied fleet tried to close in on the invasion fleet, however the escort vessels created heavy losses. During a final charge
the Rear Admiral called other ships over the radio, shouting "I am attacking, follow me!". Shortly after the HNLMS de Ruyter which had the Rear Admiral aboard
was hit by Japanese shells, killing the admiral and sunk.
Using this livery we can bring back the Dutch naval pride using a modern carrier as a base.
Regards,
Rake
