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{ { Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
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|Ship name=Vindex
|Ship namesake=Latin vindex ("defender, vindicator, protector")<ref>A phraseological Latin-English dictionary%20(%22claimant%2C%20vindicator&f=false</ref> |Ship completed=26 June 1905 |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick |Ship laid down=1904 |Ship launched=7 March 1905 |Ship acquired=26 March 1915 (chartered) |Ship commissioned=11 October 1915 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship fate=Scrapped, 1954 |Ship notes= }}
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HMS Vindex was a Royal Navy seaplane carrier during the First World War, converted from the fast passenger ship . The ship spent the bulk of her career operating the North Sea, where she twice unsuccessfully attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern and conducted anti-Zeppelin patrols. One of her Bristol Scout aircraft made the first take-off from an aircraft carrier in late 1915. Another made the first interception of an airship by a carrier-based aircraft on 2 August 1916, when it unsuccessfully attacked the Zeppelin LZ 53 (L 17). Vindex was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1918 and was sold back to her original owners in 1920. She was requisitioned again in 1939 and served through the Second World War as a troopship under a different name. After the end of the war, the ship was returned to her owners and was sold for scrapping in 1954.
Description and conversion
The ship had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load. She displaced . Her three direct-drive steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four boilers. The turbines produced a total of which gave the ship a speed of . The ship carried of coal which meant that she could steam for at a speed of . Her crew numbered 218, including 76 aviation personnel.Vindexs main armament consisted of four 50-calibre, 12-pounder 18 cwt guns, with 130 rounds stored for each gun. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of ; this gave a maximum range of . Their rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute. The ship also carried a single QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun for which she carried 55 rounds. This had a maximum depression of 8° and a maximum elevation of 60°. It fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. It had a maximum ceiling of , but an effective range of only . The 12-pounder guns were later replaced by two anti-aircraft guns.Vindex was fitted with a flying-off deck forward, intended for aircraft with wheeled undercarriages, and a prominent hangar aft. Two electric cranes were fitted aft and two derricks forward to handle her aircraft. Initially she carried two dismantled single-seat aircraft in her small forward hangar and five floatplanes in the hangar aft. Both aircraft in the forward hangar could be reassembled and flown off in about ten minutes. She was capable of operating up to seven aircraft, and during her career, operated a range of aircraft including the Sopwith Schneider, the Sopwith Pup and the Sopwith 1½ Strutter in addition to the aircraft mentioned.