Navy | The Royal Navy |
Type | Aircraft Carrier |
Class | Colossus |
Pennant | D 76 |
Built by | Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) |
Ordered | 7 Aug 1942 |
Laid down | 2 Dec 1942 |
Launched | 20 May 1944 |
Commissioned | 8 Feb 1945 |
End service | |
History | Renamed HMS Pioneer in July 1944. Pioneer's wartime service was as a Colossus class maintenance support ship/carrier up until 1953. From February 1945 she was used as a maintenance support ship, and after VJ-Day was also resonsible for ditching obsolete aircraft off the Australian coast. She carried no operational aircraft but had workshops, cranes and guns fitted on her flightdeck. Pioneer was stricken in 1954 and broken up at Inverkeithing starting in September 1954. |
Former name | HMS Mars |
Commands listed for HMS Pioneer (D 76)
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 | Capt. Harry Stewart Murray-Smith, RN | 7 Nov 1944 | 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.