50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 488 Calamity Aircraft Carrier
During World War II, in order to counter Djokovic's offensive, Britain began building aircraft carriers on a large scale.

One of the Colossus-class light aircraft carriers had a displacement of 2 tons. Originally, 16 ships were planned to be built. Construction of the first ship began in 1942, and by 1945, the 10th ship had been built.

But before these Colossus-class aircraft carriers could play any role in World War II, the war had already ended. In the end, in order to reduce military expenditures, all the Colossus-class aircraft carriers were sold by Britain to other countries around the world.

One of them, HMS Majestic, launched on February 28, 1945, was sold by Britain to Australia for $10 and was later renamed HMS Melbourne.

On October 28, 1957, the HMAS Melbourne departed Port Adelaide amidst great anticipation, preparing to carry out its first mission.

As a result, just after leaving the port, it suddenly collided with the warship "Blue Card", and from then on, the "Melbourne" began its "unlucky" life.

On February 10, 1964, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with the escort destroyer HMAS Voyager.

The Voyager was cut in half, killing 82 naval officers and men, while the Melbourne itself was also severely damaged.

On June 3, 1969, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Evans conducted the "Sea Monster" joint exercise.

During the exercise, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne once again rammed and sank the destroyer HMAS Evans, killing 73 US soldiers.

The Melbourne was also badly damaged in the collision, and Australia had to tow it back for repairs.

After these incidents, no country dared to conduct joint exercises with the HMAS Melbourne aircraft carrier.

What's even more puzzling is that even though the Melbourne stayed in port for repairs, its misfortune didn't end there.

Perhaps lacking the opportunity to collide with other warships, it targeted civilian vessels.

In 1970, the Melbourne collided with a ship named Maru. Although the damage was not significant, its reputation as a "jinx" spread throughout the world.

Such a series of misfortunes left Australia feeling deeply helpless about the "Melbourne".

However, since the HMAS Melbourne is Australia's only aircraft carrier, the Royal Australian Navy has been hesitant to give it up.

It seems the "Melbourne" didn't appreciate the gesture, and the misfortunes didn't decrease as a result.

On October 15, 1972, a fire broke out in the port where the "Melbourne" was docked. Fortunately, the fire suppression system brought the fire under control in time, thus preventing a greater disaster.

In 1974, it collided with another passenger ship, and the number of casualties caused by the Melbourne surged several times from over 100.

On July 24, 1976, the Melbourne collided with a small cargo ship in Sydney Harbour, and both ships sustained damage.

The HMAS Melbourne had become an object of avoidance for all other ships.

Perhaps unable to find a target to crash into, the Melbourne began to "self-harm".

On March 3, 1979, while it was docked for maintenance, the boiler of the "Melbourne" exploded, causing a fire.

On August 22 last year, the new radar shield of the "Melbourne" inexplicably fell into the sea and has been missing ever since.

The HMAS Melbourne was supposed to be a well-equipped aircraft carrier that Australia was counting on to play a vital military role, but it always managed to slack off in bizarre ways.

That's not all. The key issue is that the successive maintenance costs have become a burden for the Australian Navy, leaving them feeling very frustrated.

An aircraft carrier that offers no merit and only incurs losses is of little use if kept. At this point, they were already considering selling the "Melbourne" to cut their losses. The latest news Sun Zhiwei saw in the newspaper was about the "Melbourne's" most recent self-inflicted damage.

By this time, another six months had passed, and it was believed that the Australian Navy had made up its mind to try its luck in Australia.

Two days later, Sun Zhiwei boarded a direct flight to Canberra.

Canberra, the capital of Australia, is more than 16,000 kilometers away from Amsterdam.

The world's longest-range civilian aircraft is the Boeing 747-300, which just started mass production this year, and its maximum range is only over 12,000 kilometers.

Therefore, you must refuel along the way if you want to get from Amsterdam to Australia.

The flight Sun Zhiwei was on stopped for refueling at Singapore International Airport. The entire journey took more than 20 hours, and his buttocks were numb from sitting for so long.

It wasn't until he landed at Canberra Airport that he realized the unique nature of the entire Australian capital.

This is an inland valley city, more than 100 kilometers from the sea. The city has a population of only 30, which is more than the population of a small inland county in China.

Australia's choice of this location as its capital was also a result of compromise.

When Australia transitioned from a British colony to a single nation, the entire country consisted of only two major cities: Melbourne and Sydney.

Sydney was the original port, while Melbourne is the best deep-water port. The two cities, which house most of Australia's population, are rivals and both want to become the capital.

This has resulted in Australia still not having a capital city even more than a decade after its founding.

Finally, with no other option, the two cities compromised and reached an agreement: either city could be the capital, as long as it wasn't the other.

They also put forward their own conditions. Sydney said the capital must be located in New South Wales, while Melbourne said the new capital cannot be too far from Melbourne.

Finally, a valley called Canberra, located between the two, was chosen. At that time, Canberra was just a small town, a 3-hour drive from Sydney and an 8-hour drive from Melbourne.

The planning for Canberra began in 1908, construction started in 1913, and it was completed in 1927. It was transformed from almost a flat area into a metropolis capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people.

Because this is a city entirely planned by urban planners, the roads are very neat and regular, with very few residential areas with complex and intertwined roads or old town areas with uneven layouts.

The airport is very close to the city center, only a ten-minute drive away. However, after leaving the airport, Sun Zhiwei did not go into Canberra city center, but instead took a taxi directly to Melbourne.

He needs to check the current status of the HMAS Melbourne before deciding on his next course of action.

He departed from Canberra in the morning and finally arrived in Melbourne before evening.

Melbourne is Australia’s largest city. Before 1850, it was a small city with a population of less than 10,000.

But in 1851, gold was discovered in Melbourne. As a result, prospectors from all over the world began to flock there, and within just three years, hundreds of thousands of prospectors had gathered.

The rapid prosperity brought by the gold mines overshadowed the original North American Gold Mountain (San Francisco), which gradually became known as "San Francisco," while this place became the "New Gold Mountain."

(End of this chapter)