After a bit of thinking, mostly spurred on by the 3rd Audacious class thread and the Crusaders not Phantoms thread, i have a couple of questions about the Centaur. First and foremost, at what point during her stint as an accommodation vessel did her material condition deteriorate at? She was paid off and scrapped in 72, but a quick look over the wiki doesn't really have much more then an off hand mention of her deterioration. British Aircraft Carriers by Hobbs says that her material condition was almost irreversible by 71-72 while his carrier strike fleet states that she needed a regenerative refit. Would it be theoretically possible to give her a refit in 70-71 and bring her back into service, at least as a sea control ship if not an all up carrier?
As a hypothetical the Spanish government in 1970 decides to replace the Dedalo, which they were leasing and decided to buy outright in 72, with a more capable platform. With the US carriers still in and around Vietnam meaning that the US is not meeting its strike carrier obligations for NATO (Part of the reason why the US pressed for the Arc Royal to be kept in service until the late seventies) the US decides to finance the purchase of the Centaur with the intention of her serving as a primarily anti submarine platform but the threat and possibility of her serving as a strike platform working as a distraction for the soviets. Could she be refitted to carry an air wing of Sea Kings, S2 Trackers, with a limited number of air defense fighters? From the specs i have access too it certainly looks that way, she is listed as having 2 BS4 Steam catapults with 139 foot stroke and a 40,000 lb max weight and 6 35000lb at 103 knot arrester wires which is more then enough to run S-2's and either A4's, Super Entendards, F1M Mirages, or any of the suggestions I'm forgetting about. The question has to be what would be the cost of the refit, and could it be done economically.