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The sixth HMS Bulwark (R08) of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne ''Centaur''-class light fleet aircraft carrier, launched in 1948.
1950s She was not commissioned until 1954, but once underway, demonstrated the ship's and its crew's dedication to duty. In 1956 she took part in her first operation, during the Suez Crisis, she launched up to 600 sorties in what was then known as Operation Musketeer. In 1958 she assisted two tankers who had collided in the Persian Gulf. She towed one of the tankers, Melika, to Muscat, winning an award for this, namely the Boyd Trophy. In 1958 she paid off at Portsmouth for conversion into a commando carrier. Her sister-ship Albion would not do so until 1961. 1960s In 1960, Bulwark was recommissioned with 42 Commando, Royal Marines and 848 Squadron attached to the carrier. In 1961, due to an increasing threat of invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Bulwark landed 42 Commando in Kuwait. In the same year, she became the first Royal Navy warship since World War II to commission outside the UK, commissioning instead in Singapore. She also took part in the campaign against Indonesia, during the Indonesian Confrontation. In 1967 she again commissioned in Singapore Naval Dockyard, (HMS Terror), and following her work up, proceeded to Aden to cover the withdrawal and relieve ''Eagle'', spending three months at sea off the coast of Aden and embarking a detachment of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. These were disembarked in Plymouth following a visit to Cape Town. A period of dry docking took place in Portsmouth followed by service in the Arctic with 45 Commando embarked for Exercise Polar Express. Exercises were carried out around the Mediterranean with various allied Navies, with visits to southern France, Italy and Cyprus. Following these exercises she returned to Plymouth RND for decommissioning in 1969. 1970s and 1980s In September 1971 Bulwark took part in exercises in the eastern Mediterranean with 845 Squadron embarked. While close to the coast of the (then) Jugoslavia she suffered an engine room fire and limped home on one engine. In 1972, Bulwark, like her sister-ship ''Albion'', was involved in withdrawals across the declining empire. In 1972 she was HQ ship for Operation Exit, the withdrawal from Malta, an emotional withdrawal for the Royal Navy. Bulwark lay in Grand Harbour for 11 weeks and flew more than 1,000 missions. Later in 1972 she took part in exercises in the Caribbean and visited Florida with 845 Squadron embarked. Under the command of Captain Derek Bazalgette RN, she saw service in the Mediterranean in 1973 visiting Malta, Piraeus, Istanbul, Gibraltar and, in December 1973, Travemunde, the port of Lubeck. Owing to a delayed start date for refit, she embarked a company of Royal Netherlands Marines and spent early 1974 in the Dutch Caribbean, also visiting Cartagena, Colombia; she suffered damage during the storms of January 1974 in the eastern Atlantic. The 1974 refit was undertaken in Devonport Dockyard, during which time command transferred to Captain Johnnie R C Johnston RN. In 1975 she returned to the Mediterranean, visiting Gibraltar, Villefranche and Malta before returning to her home port of Plymouth in July. In March 1976 she was withdrawn from service and placed in Reserve. In 1979 she was recommissioned as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, due to delays with Invincible, earning her the nickname 'The Rusty B', originating from her motto "Under Thy Wings I Will (T)rust". In 1980 just a year into her new commission, a major fire badly damaged the forward hangar and numerous mess decks. In March 1981 she returned to Portsmouth for the last time. In April of that year she was put on the disposal list. Nonetheless, the carrier remained intact for over a year, and during the early stages of the Falklands War it was announced that Bulwark would be reactivated. However, she had deteriorated too much for this to be practical. * The carrier was eventually scrapped in 1984. Timeline | ||||||||
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