On this day 31 July 1951
Published: 31 Jul 2013
On This Day 31 July 1951, HMS VIDAL was launched as a survey ship for the Royal Navy. She was the first small ship designed to operate a helicopter, having a hangar and flight deck.
Four years later her Dragonfly helicopter landed a naval party on Rockall to claim the island for the Crown – the last territorial expansion of the British Empire.