Light fleet carriers lead Britain's Korean War air effort

Glory, Ocean, Theseus, and Triumph led Britain's carrier effort in Korea. Pioneer and Perseus served as maintenance carriers modelled on HMS Unicorn, arriving as support ships rather than combat flight decks. Unicorn could still fight when required: she returned fire with her four-inch battery after a shore position engaged her. Most of the ships had short front-line careers, while Triumph remained useful for decades and eventually became a forward aviation repair ship. Their service histories show how quickly wartime-built light carriers moved into reserve, disposal, or specialised support. Carrier warfare depended on combat decks, maintenance ships, and forward repair capacity as well as embarked aircraft.