Allied Warships
HMS Perseus (ii) (D 51)
Aircraft Carrier of the Colossus class
HMS Perseus seen here post-war
| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Aircraft Carrier |
| Class | Colossus |
| Pennant | D 51 |
| Mod | Aircraft maintenance carrier |
| Built by | Vickers Armstrong (Tyne) : Vickers Armstrong (Barrow) |
| Ordered | 14 Mar 1942 |
| Laid down | 1 Jun 1942 |
| Launched | 26 Mar 1944 |
| Commissioned | 19 Oct 1945 |
| End service | |
| History | Originally to be named HMS Edgar. She was renamed HMS Perseus in June 1944. She was completed as an aircraft maintenance ship and could not fly aircraft on or off as catapult was not fitted at that time and an acetylene producing plant was built on the aft end of the flight deck. On commissioning in October 1945, Perseus served as a maintenance support ship, she went into reserve in June 1946. In the first three months of 1952, the US Navy carried out tests of the RN developed steam catapult, launching US naval aircraft at sea from HMS Perseus, and on land at the Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, and the Naval Operating Base, Norfolk. In April 1952, the US Navy announced that this catapult would be adopted for use on US aircraft carriers, with the first installation on the USS Hancock. Perseus was subsequently stricken in 1957 and broken up commencing 6 May 1958 at Port Glasgow. |
| Former name | HMS Edgar |
Commands listed for HMS Perseus (ii) (D 51)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | A/Capt. George Robert Deverell, RN | 17 Apr 1945 | 14 Jan 1946 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving Perseus (ii) include:
The page dealing with the 'wartime history' of HMS Perseus was was created in June 2023
16 Aug 1945
Perseus (A/Capt. G.R. Deverell, RN) departed the Tyne for Rosyth for further outfitting of her aircraft workshops.
During the passage north she suffered a major engine breakdown and had to anchor off Methil.
She returned from Methil to the Tyne for repairs on 28 August 1945.
Repairs were only completed in October too late to see any war service. (1)
Sources
- ADM 199/2565
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.