The arms race during the cold war led to the rapid development of modern aircraft carriers to counterbalance the Soviet Union
In Europe, Britain, France, Italy and Spain were all working to develop their own aircraft carriers
For Spain, the result was the birth of the Principe de Asturias aircraft carrier
Príncipe de Asturias, originally Almirante Carrero Blanco, was built at the Bazan Shipyard and commissioned with the Spanish Navy on 30 May 1988
She was officially decommissioned in February 2013
Principe de Asturias has a full load displacement of 16,700 tons, a length of 195.9 m, a beam of 24.3 m, and a draft of 9.4 m
In terms of design the Principe de Asturias was quite similar to the British Invincible class
She was fitted with a 12° ski-jump ramp blended into the bow
Two aircraft lifts were fitted, one of them at the extreme stern, and these were used to move aircraft from the hangar, which had an area of 2,300 m²
The island superstructure was set aft of amidships and offset to the starboard side
The vessel supported up to 29 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft while it typically carried just 12 Harrier IIs and a collection of 6 navy helicopters
The Principe de Asturias has a crew of 830 personnel including 600 of the base enlisted crew and 230 making up the air wing
The full digital Tritan command and control system was fitted with the Link 11 and Link 14 data transmission terminals of the Naval Tactical Display System
and there was also the standard complex of air and surface surveillance radars, aircraft and gun control radars
and counter-measures both electronic and physical
For self-defense, the Principe de Asturias was granted 4 x FABA Meroka Mod 2B Close-In Weapon Systems and 12 x 20mm Oerlikon L120 anti-aircraft cannons
The ship also carried two LCVPs, and two pairs of stabilizers are fitted for stability in heavier seas
For anti-submarine defense, she relied upon the detection capacity and attacks of her ASW helicopters and accompanying frigate battle group
Propulsion was managed through 2 x Bazan-General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines arranged in COmbined Gas And Gas configuration
Maximum speed was 26 knots in ideal conditions with an operational range reaching 6,500 nautical miles
Principe de Asturias was decommissioned in 2013 as a cost-cutting measure due to Spain's budget problems
Her successor was Juan Carlos I.