HMS Ocean was a Royal Navy light fleet aircraft carrier of 13,190 tons built in Glasgow by Alexander Stephen & Sons. Her keel was laid in November 1942, and she was commissioned on 30 June 1945. Construction and design The Colossus class was a class of relatively small aircraft carriers which were designed to be built quickly to meet the Royal Navy's requirements for more carriers to allow it to fight a global war. In order to allow speedy build, they were designed to mercantile rather than navy hull standards, while armour protection and long-range anti aircraft guns were not fitted. Sixteen ships were ordered by the end of 1942, but the last six were completed to a modified design as the Majestic-class. The ships were between and long overall, at the waterline and between perpendiculars. Beam was and draught was at deep load. Displacement was standard and deep load. Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers supplied steam to two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines which in turn drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at , giving a speed of . The ships had a range of at a speed of . The flight deck was long and wide, while the hangar was long and wide with a clear overhead height of . While designed to carry 24 aircraft in 1942, by the time that they became operational, the ships were accommodating 37 aircraft. Ocean was fitted with a close-in anti-aircraft armament of six quadruple and seven single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom autocannon and twelve single Bofors 40 mm guns. The ship had a crew of 1300 officers and ratings. Ocean was laid down at Alexander Stephen & Sons Glasgow shipyard on 8 November 1942 and was launched on 8 July 1944. In March 1944, a proposal was made by the Australian government to purchase a light fleet carrier, specifically Ocean. The application was rejected in early June 1945, and the carrier entered Royal Navy service. The ship was commissioned on 8 August 1945. In total, the ship required 20772 man-months to build. Service Following commissioning, Ocean was sent to Cammell Laird at Birkenhead for modification to operate night fighters - changes included revised radar (with American SM-1 radar replacing the British Type 277 height-finding radar) and improved direction-finding equipment. On completion of these changes in November 1945, Ocean was based at Rosyth for flying trials, with the first