Бразилияның "Минас Жерайс" ұшақ тасушы кемесінің тарихы

1960–2001 Colossus class aircraft carrier of the Brazilian Navy

NAeL Minas Gerais (pennant number A 11) was a light aircraft carrier operated by the Marinha do Brasil (MB, Brazilian Navy) from 1960 until 2001. The ship was laid down for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy during World War II as HMS Vengeance, was completed shortly before the war's end, and did not see combat. After stints as a training vessel and Arctic research ship, the carrier was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy from 1952 to 1955. She was returned to the British, who sold her to Brazil in 1956. The ship underwent a four year conversion in the Netherlands to make her capable of operating heavier naval aircraft. She was commissioned into the MB as Minas Gerais (named after the state of Minas Gerais) in 1960; the first purchased by a Latin American nation, and the second to enter service, behind the Argentinian ARA Independencia (also Colossus class). Between 1987 and 1996, the carrier was unable to operate fixed wing aircraft because of a defective catapult, and was retasked as a helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship. Minas Gerais remained in service until 2001, when she was replaced by NAe Brazilian aircraft carrier São Paulo. At the time of her decommissioning, she was the oldest operational aircraft carrier in the world, and the last operational unit of the World War II Light Fleet design. Despite attempts to preserve the carrier as a museum ship, and after several failed attempts to auction the ship off (including a listing on eBay), Minas Gerais was sold for scrap in 2004 and taken to Alang, India for breaking up.

The carrier was constructed by Swan Hunter for the Royal Navy (RN) as HMS Vengeance. She was laid down on 16 November 1942, and launched on 23 February 1944. Despite this plan, the ship had a service life of over 55 years across three navies.

After commissioning, Vengeance was assigned to the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron, which was attached to the British Pacific Fleet. The carrier arrived in Sydney, Australia in July 1945, but remained in the harbour for refits until the end of World War II. From late 1952 until mid 1955, Vengeance was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy, to serve in place of the under construction .

During the leadup to the 1955 presidential election, Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, governor of the state of Minas Gerais promised Brazilian admirals to acquire an aircraft carrier for the Marinha do Brasil (MB, Brazilian Navy). Kubitschek later claimed that this was to avoid a naval rebellion during his inauguration at the start of 1956, and despite believing in the "military uselessness" of the second hand warship, The size of the angle required that an accessway be built around the starboard side of the island superstructure; the weight acting as a counterbalance for the flight deck's portside overhang. The carrier's island superstructure was replaced, and a lattice mast was fitted to support the new fire control system and radar suite.

During the ship's modernisation refit to become Minas Gerais, her armament was altered to consist of ten Bofors 40 mm anti aircraft guns (2 quad mountings and 1 twin mounting), and two 47 mm saluting guns.

In 1965, President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco permitted the operation of helicopters to the Navy, fixed wing aircraft were to remain the responsibility of the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian Air Force). As a result, Minas Gerais was required to embark two air groups: the Navy operated helicopters while the Air Force operated S 2 Tracker aircraft. From 1976 to 1981, the ship underwent a major refit. In December 1987, Minas Gerais herself was laid up after participating in Operation Dragon XXIII because of problems with her aircraft catapult. Although unable to operate as an aircraft carrier, the ship saw use over the following years in training exercises as an amphibious assault ship; using an air group of Eurocopter AS532 Cougar and Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel helicopters to transport Marines ashore. The launchers themselves were installed in 1994, with the ten Bofors removed at the same time. In order to operate the new fighters, Minas Gerais underwent a major refit at the Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro. The first was for a 40,000 ton ship equipped with up to forty aircraft, including naval fighters. For this to happen, the 1965 ruling that prevented the MB from operating fixed wing aircraft had to be overturned; a decision the FAB opposed. Minas Gerais was decommissioned on 16 October 2001: the second to last of the World War II era light aircraft carriers to leave service, with the other being the 1959 commissioned (former ) which was ordered during the war but not completed and was the oldest aircraft carrier still in service in the world until it was decommissioned in 2017. At the time of her decommissioning, she was the second oldest active aircraft carrier in the world (a title passed on to the 1961 commissioned Kitty Hawk). Also at the decommissioning ceremony was 87 year old Admiral Hélio Leôncio Martins, who was the first commander of the aircraft carrier. There were also crew who had served on the Minas Gerais at different times. Bidding reached £4 million before the auction was removed from the website under rules preventing the sale of military ordnance.