HMS Kelly was Mountbatten's ship. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. 2526, Brown 1971, p. 257; Brown, J. D., p. 81, McCart, p. 26, Brown 1971, p. 257; Brown, J. D., p. 81; Hobbs 2013, p. 91; McCart, pp. [32], Now augmented by reinforcements from the UK, the Mediterranean Fleet detached Illustrious, four cruisers, and four destroyers to a point 170 miles (270km) south-east of Taranto. [15] Her light AA armament was also augmented by the addition of 10 Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in single mounts. En route she served as the centrepiece of a convoy-defence exercise as the RAF successfully "attacked" the convoy. [11] This version of the radar had separate transmitting and receiving antennas which required a new mainmast to be added to the aft end of the island to mount the transmitter. 810 Squadron was the only unit retained from her previous air group and it had been re-equipped with Barracudas during her refit. As the fleet was withdrawing, Illustrious's CAP intercepted and shot down a Nakajima Ki-43 (codenamed "Oscar") fighter and a Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" medium bomber on reconnaissance missions. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Only one Fulmar was serviceable on 19 January, when the carrier was attacked several times and it was shot down. Her air group was reinforced at this time by four more Martlets each for 878 and 890 Squadrons. 21 Naval Torpedo-Bomber Reconnaissance Wing, "Bomb Damage to British Naval Vessels: Summary of Damage by Bombs to September 2, 1941", "Pictures: Remembering the 29 men who drowned in HMS Illustrious liberty boat disaster", "Ship models in the Monaco Naval Museum: Aircraft and Helicopter Carriers", Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Armoured aircraft carrier action and damage reports, 19401945, Maritimequest HMS Illustrious photo gallery, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Illustrious_(87)&oldid=1115451789, In front of a trumpet erect two trumpets in saltire gold, This page was last edited on 11 October 2022, at 14:53. One Fulmar was damaged and forced to return to the carrier, while the other two exhausted their ammunition and fuel during the combat and landed at Hal Far airfield on Malta. Aircraft from 819 Squadron laid six mines in the harbour entrance while those from 815 Squadron sank the destroyer Borea and two freighters totalling 10,192gross register tons(GRT). 250, 254; McCart, p. 23; Rohwer, p. 260, Brown 1971, p. 254; Brown, J. D., 6667; McCart, pp. Fancourt, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Termagent (Lt.Cdr. The British role during the operation was to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 26 March. 854 Squadron was disembarked while at Sydney, but the carrier kept her two Corsair squadrons until after arriving in the UK on 27 June. Her light AA armament now consisted of six octuple "pom-pom" mountings, eighteen single Oerlikons, and seventeen single and two twin Bofors mounts. The hangar was 456 feet (139.0m) long and had a maximum width of 62 feet (18.9m). Those known to have sailed in HMS Illustrious during the Second World War 1939-1945. 25758; Brown, J. D., pp. [4], Illustrious was 740 feet (225.6m) in length overall and 710 feet (216.4m) at the waterline. [10], The main armament of the Illustrious class consisted of sixteen quick-firing (QF) 4.5-inch (110mm) dual-purpose guns in eight twin-gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. [87] In November the government accelerated the demobilisation of some National Servicemen and almost 2,000 men serving in the Mediterranean became eligible for release. One torpedo bomber was shot down, but the other aircraft returned. The main armament of the Illustrious class consisted of sixteen quick-firing (QF) 4.5-inch (110 mm) dual-purpose guns in eight twin- gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. showed three battleships with their decks awash and surrounded by pools of oil. The Association's first meeting was held in T.S. The first operation carried out by both carriers was an airstrike on the small naval base at Sabang at the northern tip of Sumatra (Operation Cockpit). The multiple hits at the aft end of the carrier knocked out her steering gear, although it was soon repaired. She made her first foreign port visit in many years at Le Havre, France, on 2022 March, where 13,000 people came aboard. [28], After refuelling in Gibraltar, Illustrious and the battleship Valiant were escorted into the Mediterranean by Force H as part of Operation Hats, during which her Fulmars shot down five Italian bombers and her AA guns shot down two more. [5] Her complement was approximately 1,299 officers and enlisted men upon completion in 1940. The weather was too bad for Illustrious to rescue the steamer's crew, but she pumped fuel oil overboard to flatten the seas until a tug arrived to rescue the ship on 27 October. For this operation, her fighters were reinforced by a detachment of three Fulmars from 805 Squadron. PO, Hopkins Hugh. The crew's behaviour drew a mixed response from . [52][53], While her steering was being repaired in Malta, the Illustrious was bombed again on 16 January by 17 Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers and 44 Stukas. She spent most of the next several months training although she participated in several sorties with the Eastern Fleet searching for Japanese warships in the Bay of Bengal and near the coast of Sumatra. SERVING WITH THE ILLUSTRIOUS. This is a shout out to any members of the Phot Branch who were on board HMS Illustrious acting as a film crew when it sailed from the UK until departing the ship in Hong Kong, who were employed to make a documentary of life on board during the deployment. After sustaining damage on the voyage home in late 1941 by a collision with her sister ship Formidable, Illustrious was sent to the Indian Ocean in early 1942 to support the invasion of Vichy French Madagascar (Operation Ironclad). These latter aircraft lacked folding wings and could not fit on the lifts. The most damaging hit was a large bomb that penetrated through the deck armour forward of the aft lift and detonated 10 feet above the hangar deck. Her first assignment brought her to the Mediterranean Sea where her main mission was to launch aircraft which covered Malta convoys. CPO. He transferred his flag to Formidable when she arrived at Alexandria on 10 March, just before Illustrious sailed for Port Said to begin her transit of the Suez Canal. Crew: HMS Illustrious has 1,400 compartments and 15 lifts, and has a top speed in excess of 30 knots. In Sep 1943, her aircraft covered Allied troops in the Sicily invasion. Repairs were made in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where her destroyed aircraft were replaced and augmented by twelve additional Martlet II fighters from HMS Archer, while two Martlet I aircraft were, in turn, transferred to Archer, bringing Illustrious's total aircraft complement to 47. Over the next several months she conducted deck-landing practice for Avenger and Seafire pilots before starting a short refit on 2 April. [7], A year later, in preparation for her service against the Japanese in the Pacific, one starboard octuple "pom-pom" mount, directly abaft the island, was replaced by two 40 mm Bofors AA guns. [85], On 1 February, she joined the other ships of the Home Fleet as they rendezvoused with the battleship Vanguard, which was serving as the royal yacht to escort King George VI as he set out for the first royal tour of South Africa. [51], The ship was hit five more times in this attack, one of which penetrated the un-armoured aft lift and detonated beneath it, destroying it and the surrounding structure. pilot and ground crew aboard HMS Illustrious April 1945. [72], She then returned to Britain on 18 October for a quick refit at Birkenhead that included further improvements to the flight deck and the reinforcement of her light anti-aircraft armament. She was captured by. Illustrious is the last survivor of the Royal Navy's trio of celebrated aircraft carriers . [34] At this time her air group was reinforced by several of Eagle's Gloster Sea Gladiators supplementing the fighters of 806 Squadron as well as torpedo bombers from 813 and 824 Squadrons. The World War II Database is founded and managed by While the precise details on activities of the carrier's squadrons are not readily available, it is known that the commanding officer of 854 Squadron was forced to ditch his Avenger on the morning of 27 March with the loss of both his crewmen; he was ultimately rescued that evening by an American submarine. The vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service. While conducting her post-refit trials, she also conducted flying trials for Martlet Vs and Barracudas. The design was unique in the sense that the flight deck was armored, unlike many of her contemporaries outside her class; however, the added protection also limited the total number of aircraft she was capable of carrying. On 12 and 13 April, the BPF switched targets to airfields in northern Formosa and her sister joined the task force on 14 April. The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. The carrier launched four replacements at 12:35, just when 2436 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers of the First Group/Dive Bomber Wing 1 (I. Gruppe/Sturzkampfgeschwader (StG) 1) and the Second Group/Dive Bomber Wing 2 (II. [9] At some point after 1948, the ship's light AA armament was reduced to two twin and nineteen single 40mm guns and six Oerlikons. Now escorted by the bulk of the Mediterranean Fleet, eight of her Swordfish, together with some from the carrier Eagle, attacked the Italian seaplane base at Rhodes on the morning of 3 September. When the aircraft approached the target on the morning of 20 December, it was obscured by clouds so they diverted to the secondary target of the port at Belawan Deli. 8384; McCart, p. 29, Brown 1971, p. 258; Brown, J. D., pp. The oil refineries at the Wonokromo district of Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies and the nearby Braat Engineering Works were struck by British and American carrier aircraft struck by carrier aircraft of the Royal Navys Eastern Fleet made up of carriers HMS Illustrious and USS Saratoga escorted by HMS Cumberland, HMS Renown, USS Cummings, and others. He was almost immediately sent on a speaking tour to influence American public opinion, until he was recalled home in October and relieved by Captain A. G. Talbot on 1 October. The King and Queen inspected Illustrious and her crew, as did Prime Minister Clement Attlee and his wife. After slipping into the water, she was towed into the Buccleuch Dock at Barrow for fitting out for her complement of around 1,299 officers and enlisted men. 21 Naval Torpedo-Bomber Reconnaissance Wing on 27 November before beginning her work up three days later. [67] At the beginning of August, the ship participated in Operation Stab, a decoy invasion of the Andaman Islands to distract the Japanese when the Americans were invading the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. 3233, Brown 1971, pp. [53][54] The naval historian J. D. Brown noted that "There is no doubt that the armoured deck saved her from destruction; no other carrier took anything like this level of punishment and survived. site is two fold. [47] On the morning of 22 December, 13 Swordfish attacked Tripoli harbour, starting fires and hitting warehouses multiple times. Illustrious was commissioned into service. For this operation she had aboard six Fulmars of 806 Squadron, 23 Martlets of 881 Squadron and 18 Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons. [49], On 7 January 1941, Illustrious set sail to provide air cover for convoys to Piraeus, Greece and Malta as part of Operation Excess. Vice Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings, commander of Task Force 57, ordered the recently arrived Formidable to join the task force to replace Illustrious on 8 April. 4246, Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, No. The necessity to attack from the south, across the full width of Java, meant that the target was outside the Barracuda's range and 810 and 847 Squadrons were replaced by the 18 Grumman Avengers of 832 and 845 Squadrons for the mission. The Germans had laid mines in the canal earlier. The carrier participated in the early stages of the Battle of Okinawa until mechanical defects arising from accumulated battle damage became so severe she was ordered home early for repairs in May 1945. ww2dbaseIn 1943, Illustrious returned to the Mediterranean Sea and joined Force H based in Gibraltar. Former HMS Illustrious set to sail on her final voyage. After post-war modifications to convert her into a trials carrier, her complement was reduced to 1,090 officers and enlisted men. 254, 257; Brown, J. D., p. 80; McCart, pp. The British ships were spotted by Blohm & Voss BV 138 flying boats and 890 Squadron shot down two of them before the fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 29 July. The light AA guns managed to sever its port wing so that it missed the ship, although its starboard wingtip shattered the Type 272's radome mounted on the front of the bridge. 4 Squadron, RNNAS and 824 Squadron landed aboard for more deck-landing training. The next morning, Martlets from 881 Squadron intercepted three Potez 63.11 reconnaissance bombers, shooting down two and forcing the other to retreat, while Swordfish dropped dummy parachutists as a diversion. 2930, Hobbs 2011, pp. British carrier HMS Illustrious and the escort carrier HMS Atheling, with covering forces, began a series of diversionary raids on Sabang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, with the goal of tying down Japanese forces during the American Operation Forager attack on the Mariana Islands. The high-angle director atop the island was replaced with an American SM-1 fighter-direction radar, a Type 293M target-indication system was added, and the Type 281M was replaced with a prototype Type 960 early-warning radar. She was sold on 3 November 1956 and broken up in early 1957. The Japanese aircraft diving on the ILLUSTRIOUS. The American bombers attacked the shipping in the harbour while the British aircraft attacked the shore installations. Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, was determined not to simply modify the previous unarmoured Ark Royal design. [24] She was commissioned on 16 April 1940 and, excluding her armament, she cost 2,295,000 to build. The bombardment was very effective, sinking two small freighters, and severely damaging the oil storage and port facilities. The attack, with both available carriers, was originally planned for 21 October, the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, but a hangar fire aboard Illustrious on 18 October forced its postponement until 11 November when the next favourable phase of the moon occurred. [58] The work was completed in November and Illustrious departed on 25 October, for trials off Jamaica and to load the dozen Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons. Nine Swordfish and five Fulmars were destroyed during the attack. The Italians made no effort to attack the Allied forces, and the most noteworthy thing that any of her aircraft did was when one of 890 Squadron's Martlets escorted a surrendering Italian aircraft to Sicily. 7.3 The distribution of the surviving lists. [82], From 26 March to 9 April, the BPF attacked the airfields with each two-day period of flying operations followed by two or three days required to replenish fuel, ammunition and other supplies. Two years later, she made 29.2 knots from 111,450shp (83,110kW). The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. Off Okinawa, she was hit and damaged by two Japanese special attack aircraft. (Operation Diplomat). [7] By 1945, accumulated wear-and-tear as well as undiagnosed shock damage to Illustrious's machinery caused severe vibrations in her centre propeller shaft at high speeds. It had a height of 16 feet (4.9m) which allowed storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters once their wingtips were clipped. 127, 13031; McCart, pp. The destroyer Aquilone later struck one of the mines and sank. The Royal Navy's 1936 Naval Programme authorised the construction of two aircraft carriers. The Vichy French-controlled island of Madagascar stood astride the line of communication between India and the UK and the British were worried that the French would accede to occupation of the island as they had to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina in 1940. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) [64][65] Illustrious' aircraft flew 209 sorties and suffered six deck landing crashes, including four by Martlets. On 2 May 1950, she arrived at Birkenhead to commemorate the launch of the new carrier Ark Royal the following day with the First Lord of the Admiralty, George Hall, 1st Viscount Hall, aboard. [22] She was laid down at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard two weeks later as yard number 732 and launched on 5 April 1939. Preventing this required a preemptive invasion of Diego Suarez scheduled for May 1942. This meant that the ship had to be capable of remaining in action after sustaining damage and that her fragile aircraft had to be protected entirely from damage. Afterwards, she was opened for visits by the public before returning to Portsmouth. Neither ship was seriously damaged, but Illustrious had to reduce speed to shore up sprung bulkheads in the bow and conduct temporary repairs to the forward flight deck. HMS ILLUSTRIOUS ASSOCIATION The 5th HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was named and launched on 1st December 1978 by HRH Princess Margaret and Admiral of the Fleet, Earl Mountbatten of Burma. [50] Another pair were attempting to take off when the first 250-or-500-kilogram (550 or 1,100lb) bomb struck just forward of the aft lift, destroying the Fulmar whose engine had failed to start and detonating high in the lift well; the other aircraft took off and engaged the Stukas as they pulled out of their dive. In May 1942, her aircraft provided cover for the British troops landing at Diego Suarez, Madagascar against French and French colonial troops. During a severe gale in late October, the ship aided the small coastal steamer SSYewpark that had lost power. Later in the month she hosted the Sea Furies of 802 and the Fireflies of 814 Squadrons for Exercise Winged Fleet. [14] This increased her aircraft complement to 47 aircraft by use of a permanent deck park of 6 aircraft. Her complement was sharply reduced by her change in role and she retained her aft 4.5-inch guns. Her length was 640 feet with a beam of over 90 feet and a draught reaching 23 feet. [71], Together with the Unicorn, she sailed for the Mediterranean on 13 August to prepare for the landings at Salerno (Operation Avalanche), reaching Malta a week later. The goal of this A single hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck. Illustrious was the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers. On 26 February she began a refit at Birkenhead that lasted until 7 June during which her flight deck was extended, new radars were installed, her light anti-aircraft armament was augmented, and two new arrestor wires were fitted aft of the rear lift which increased her effective landing area. Later in the day her Corsairs intercepted 10 Ki-43s and shot down two of them while driving off the remainder. This attack was intercepted by six of the ship's Fulmars which had rearmed and refuelled ashore after they had dropped their bombs, but only two of the dive bombers were damaged before the Fulmars ran out of ammunition. [29] A few days after the Italian invasion of Egypt, Illustrious flew off 15 Swordfish during the moonlit night of 16/17 September to attack the port of Benghazi. The end of the war several weeks later meant that there was no longer any urgency in refitting the Illustrious in time to participate in the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands and the Admiralty decided that she would become the Home Fleet training and trials carrier. [63] Before dawn on 5 May, she launched 18 Swordfish together with 8 Martlets. [23] Illustrious was then towed to Buccleuch Dock for fitting out and Captain Denis Boyd was appointed to command her on 29 January 1940. Admiral Sir James Somerville's new Eastern Fleet launched a devastating raid on the oil refinery at Sabang in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies with aircraft flown from the carriers HMS Illustrious and USS Saratoga escorted by HMS Cumberland, HMS Renown, USS Cummings, and others. PA. [18] Two more twin Oerlikon mounts were added, and her boilers were retubed. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. 104105, 108110, Brown 1971, p. 246; Brown, J. D., p. 48; Friedman, p. 147; Hobbs 2013, p. 90; McCart, pp. As a consequence, her flight-deck armour had to be ordered from Vtkovice Mining and Iron Corporation in Czechoslovakia. The noise of the on-coming first airstrike was heard at 22:25 and the anti-aircraft guns defending the port opened fire shortly afterwards, as did those on the ships in the harbour. She exchanged them for Firebrands for the return voyage. Thank you. She next put to sea on 24 April 1953 for trials and did not resume training pilots until the following month. 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