British carrier HMS Illustrious left Malta for Alexandria, Egypt. A flight of nine SM.79s was intercepted later that day and the Fulmars claimed to have damaged one of the bombers, although it actually failed to return to base. [11], The completion of Illustrious was delayed two months to fit her with a Type 79Z early-warning radar; she was the first aircraft carrier in the world to be fitted with radar before completion. [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. The fleet departed Trincomalee on 21 March to rendezvous with the American carrier Saratoga in preparation for combined operations against the Japanese facilities in the Dutch East Indies and the Andaman Islands. Somerville decided to attack Sabang again (Operation Crimson), although the ships of the East Indies Fleet would bombard the port while the fighters from the Illustrious and the Victorious spotted for them and protected the fleet. The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. One Martlet I was fitted with folding wings. [93] Another model of Illustrious in her late-war appearance is at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in RNAS Yeovilton. With both Illustrious and Eagle under his command, Admiral Cunningham could now take the offensive. The bombardment was very effective, sinking two small freighters, and severely damaging the oil storage and port facilities. [88], She was refitted and modernised from January to August 1948. On 18 July she rendezvoused with the Home Fleet to participate in manoeuvres before George VI reviewed the fleet on 2223 July. The first flight of 6 Swordfish, carrying torpedoes, unsuccessfully attacked the aviso D'Entrecasteaux, but sank the armed merchant cruiser MSBougainville. 16th Jan 1941 HMS Illustrious 22nd January 1941 Italian airfields attacked If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Her complement was sharply reduced by her change in role and she retained her aft 4.5-inch guns. First, it is aiming to offer interesting JUNE 1945, ON BOARD HMS ILLUSTRIOUS. With over 50 aircraft airborne at one point, the British realised that a single deck accident might result in the loss of every aircraft in the air because there was no other carrier available to land aboard. These were 'U'-shaped beams that extended from the side of the flight deck into which aircraft tailwheels were placed. [92] A model of HMS Illustrious in 1940is on display at the Monaco Naval Museum. One bomb struck and destroyed the starboard forward "pom-pom" mount closest to the island, while another passed through the forwardmost port "pom-pom" mount and failed to detonate, although it did start a fire. [7], During her 1943 refits, the flight deck was modified to extend its usable length to 740 feet (225.6m), and "outriggers" were probably added at this time. HMS Illustrious, nicknamed Lusty, is the last of the Invincible class of aircraft carriers which included the Ark Royal and Invincible, introduced into the navy in the 1980s. In the meantime, she continued to conduct operations with the rest of the fleet. On 11 Jan 1941, she was attacked by German dive bombers while escorting a convoy, suffering 8 bomb hits. [63] After her stay at Freetown, Illustrious proceeded to Durban; during the voyage her staff also fitted ASV radar to the replacement Swordfish. The only way to do this was to completely armour the hangar in which the aircraft would shelter, but putting so much weight high in the ship allowed only a single-storey hangar due to stability concerns. Preventing this required a preemptive invasion of Diego Suarez scheduled for May 1942. A hangar fire broke out on 2 April that destroyed 11 aircraft and killed one crewman, but failed to cause any serious damage to the ship. The two airstrikes had changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean by rendering the Conte di Cavour unavailable for the rest of the war, and badly damaging the Littorio and the Duilio. All big-gun armament and turbine propulsion marked her out as one of the ships that led the dreadnought revolution. En route she served as the centrepiece of a convoy-defence exercise as the RAF successfully "attacked" the convoy. The brand-new armoured aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, and a powerful escort left Gibraltar. The ship was docked in Clydeside for a minor refit the following day; she arrived in Scapa Flow on 15 August, and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Lumley Lyster. Two months later the carrier was crippled by German dive bombers and was repaired in the United States. 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. Please refrain from using strong language. During the morning of 10 January, her Swordfish attacked an Italian convoy without significant effect. This section includes over 21.000 Allied Warships and over 11.000 Allied Commanders of WWII, from the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Australian Navy, The Polish Navy and others. On 3 November she began loading the 39th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division in response to the riots in Cyprus that broke out when Egypt abrogated the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936. [4], Illustrious was 740 feet (225.6m) in length overall and 710 feet (216.4m) at the waterline. HMS Illustrious, which served in the Falklands War, Bosnia and the Gulf, has been put up for sale for scrap by the Ministry of Defence. The British fighters claimed to have shot down five Ju 87s, with the fleet's anti-aircraft fire claiming three others. [91], After a brief refit in early 1952, she participated in Exercise Castanets off the Scottish coast in June and hosted 22,000 visitors during Navy Days at Devonport Royal Dockyard in August. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. 21 TBR Wing were landed to make room for the additional fighters. Reconnaissance photos taken by the R.A.F. [46] Four days later Illustrious's aircraft attacked two convoys near the Kerkennah Islands and sank two merchant ships totalling 7,437GRT. The hangar was designed to accommodate 36 aircraft, for which 50,650 imperial gallons (230,300l; 60,830USgal) of aviation spirit was provided. One Avenger crashed on take-off and an American Avenger was shot down over the target; only one small ship was sunk, and little damage was done to the refinery. She embarked the Barracudas of 810 and 847 Squadrons of No. Under sustained air attack 60 miles west of Malta by German Ju87 dive bombers. [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. 254, 257; Brown, J. D., p. 80; McCart, pp. It was one of 3 Inviciible -class light carriers. HMS Illustrious was launched on 5th April 1939, where she was christened by Lady Henderson, wife of the recently retired Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, Third Sea Lord of the Royal Navy. Off Okinawa, she was hit and damaged by two Japanese special attack aircraft. She was commissioned on 20th June 1982 (3 month early during work-up trials, due to the Falklands crisis). 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. [52][53], Another attack by 13 Ju 87s at 13:20 hit the ship once more in the aft lift well, which again knocked out her steering and reduced her speed to 15 knots (28km/h; 17mph). HMS Illustrious (Illustrious class aircraft carrier) 15.05.1943-(06. She conducted her last landings on 3 December and arrived at Devonport four days later to begin decommissioning. The attacks killed 126 officers and men and wounded 91. Thank you. Fancourt, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Termagent (Lt.Cdr. The British Royal Navy, particularly, suffered a damaging defeat after the Japanese raids into the Indian Ocean in Mar-Apr 1942. The hangar was 456 feet (139.0m) long and had a maximum width of 62 feet (18.9m). [77], On 30 July, she sailed for Durban to begin a refit that lasted from 15 August to 10 October and arrived back at Trincomalee on 1 November. )1943: RN Barracks, Chatham [HMS Pembroke] 04.06.1943-(10.1944) RN . The facilities there could provide only emergency repairs, enough to allow her to reach the bigger dockyard in Sydney. Illustrious was the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers. As the world's first battle cruiser, HMS Invincible was by any measure a revolutionary and important warship. For this operation, her fighters were reinforced by a detachment of three Fulmars from 805 Squadron. Courtesy Imperial War Museums. During 12 days of training in September, she completed 950 daytime and nighttime arrested landings and 210 helicopter landings. Illustrious was commissioned into service. The multiple hits at the aft end of the carrier knocked out her steering gear, although it was soon repaired. She returned to Portsmouth on 7 December and she did not leave harbour until 30 January 1952 when she resumed her customary role as a training ship. It was partially obscured by clouds and heavy squalls so the attacking aircraft had only moderate success, setting some structures on fire and destroying several aircraft on the ground. The remaining pair engaged a pair of torpedo-carrying SM.79s, damaging one badly enough that it crashed upon landing. Occasionally, we would get a direct hit with our small practice bombs, and it must have been an earthshattering experience for the boat crew because it was an unwritten law that any pilot getting a direct hit on the boat would deliver a previous page page_29 next page > previous page page_30 next page > Page 30 case of cold beer to the crew. Power was from 4 x Admiralty water-tube boilers feeding 2 x Parsons geared steam turbines driving 40,000 horsepower to 2 x shafts under stern. THE AIRPLANE SCRAPED . Captain Charles Lambe was appointed as the new captain of the Illustrious on 21 May, but he could not join his new ship until 9 July. While conducting her post-refit trials, she also conducted flying trials for Martlet Vs and Barracudas. In this role she conducted the deck-landing trials for most of the British post-war naval aircraft in the early 1950s. [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. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. A Chance-Vought Corsair JT208 buckles a wing on . [24] She was commissioned on 16 April 1940 and, excluding her armament, she cost 2,295,000 to build. 3233, Brown 1971, pp. HMS Kelly was Mountbatten's ship. Her first assignment brought her to the Mediterranean Sea where her main mission was to launch aircraft which covered Malta convoys. 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. He believed that carriers could not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system. The torpedo-carrying aircraft of the first wave scored one hit on the battleship Conte di Cavour and two on the recently completed battleship Littorio while the two flare droppers bombed the oil storage depot with little effect. The carrier and her escorts arrived back at Trincomalee on 23 June where 847 Squadron was merged into 810 Squadron a week later. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1/72 BELL AH-1T SEA COBRA built kit at the best online prices at eBay! [79], On 16 January 1945 the BPF sailed for its primary base in the Pacific Ocean, Sydney, Australia. As the Barracudas were needed only for anti-submarine patrols, the former embarked only nine while the latter ship flew off all her Barracudas. HMS Illustrious, built on the Tyne and commissioned in 1982, served in the Falklands War, the First Gulf War and in a support role in Afghanistan. 127, 13031; McCart, pp. Her Corsairs claimed four enemy aircraft shot down as did one Avenger pilot who claimed victory over a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" fighter. J.P. Scatchard, DSC, RN), HMS Tenacious (Lt.Cdr. In September, it decided that the Illustrious would become the trials and training carrier for the Home Fleet and her repairs were changed into a lengthy refit that lasted until June 1946. She returned to Norfolk on 9 December, to rendezvous with Formidable, which had also been repaired there, and the carriers sailed for home three days later. After another round of flying operations, she visited Trondheim, Norway, on 19 June. This was complete by 23 July, when she arrived in the Clyde and flew off her aircraft. Two of the Barracudas were forced to return with engine trouble before the attack began and another was shot down over the target. [81] By this time the vibration problems with her centre propeller shaft, which had never been properly repaired after she was bombed at Malta, were so bad that the propeller was removed and the shaft locked in place, reducing her maximum speed to 24 knots. [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. [80], She arrived on 10 February and repairs began when she entered the Captain Cook Dock in the Garden Island Dockyard the next day, well before it was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester, the Governor-General of Australia on 24 March. [12], The Illustrious-class ships had a flight deck protected by 3 inches (76mm) of armour and the internal sides and ends of the hangars were 4.5 inches (114mm) thick. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? (Operation Diplomat). Pete and Jan Owens Records of seafarers and ships British seafarers of the late 19th and early 20th century are the best documented workers that there have ever been - millions of documents survive, recording in detail the crews of a hundred thousand ships. British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, damaged by Stuka dive bombers on 10 Jan, completed temporary repairs and departed Malta for Alexandria, Egypt with destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Juno, HMS Janus, and HMS Greyhound in escort. In 32 years . She returned to Portsmouth on 19 November and began loading the 45th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, and the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment two days later. She was sent to Loch Ewe on 30 August for service as a local defence ship. [18] At this time her complement was 1,997 officers and enlisted men. [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. Her length was 640 feet with a beam of over 90 feet and a draught reaching 23 feet. They had to be replaced by men from the UK so Illustrious ferried the replacements to Malta, sailing on 21 November and returning on 11 December to Portsmouth. The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. 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. She flew off her aircraft to Gibraltar on 31 January and continued on to the Clyde where she arrived five days later. ), struck on rocks under Apes' Hill, coast of Barbary. [83], Formidable's arrival allowed Rawlings to order Illustrious to the advance base in San Pedro Bay, in the Philippines, for a more thorough inspection. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. 279283, Brown 1971, pp. The Association's first meeting was held in T.S. She was the third warship of the . The full crew list can be displayed for any of the ships. The Japanese aircraft diving on the ILLUSTRIOUS. Her own losses were two Avengers and three Corsairs lost in action and one Avenger and six Corsairs due to non-combat causes. The following day, the Fireflies of No. some really good leads ,two good sites I found were World Navalships Froums & the other was Sevicepals.com + I got a crew snap shot prior to them sailing to Crete,some one else maybe interested in this info.Keep me posted Folks if . Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 19 December 1796 - HMS Courageux (1753/1761 - 74), Lt. John Burrows (Act. The new ship class was named the Invincible-class and would constitute three vessels led by HMS Invincible and followed by HMS Illustrious and HMS Indomitable. "Round downs" were places at the ends of the flight deck that were faired into the hull; they were generally not usable by aircraft or equipment because they were not level. One patrolling Swordfish sank the submarine Le Hros and another spotted for ships bombarding French defences. 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. Short relieved Watson on 28 December. 4 Squadron, RNNAS and 824 Squadron landed aboard for more deck-landing training. It had a height of 16 feet (4.9m) which allowed storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters once their wingtips were clipped. After post-war modifications to convert her into a trials carrier, her complement was reduced to 1,090 officers and enlisted men. Is there a list of. [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. Illustrious's air group consisted of 32 Corsairs and 21 Avengers by now and she contributed 12 of her Avengers and 16 Corsairs to the first attack, which destroyed most of the oil storage tanks and cut the refinery's output by half for three months. Her first assignment after completion and working up was with the Mediterranean Fleet, in which her aircraft's most notable achievement was sinking one Italian battleship and badly damaging two others during the Battle of Taranto in late 1940. For this operation she had aboard six Fulmars of 806 Squadron, 23 Martlets of 881 Squadron and 18 Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons. ww2dbaseAfter the war, Illustrious' role was reduced to a training and trials ship due to the heavy damage suffered during WW2. Later that morning three of the five Fulmars on Combat Air Patrol (CAP) engaged three SM.79s at low altitude, claiming one shot down. She was transferred to Force H for the Battle of Salerno in mid-1943 and then rejoined the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of 1944. 2. In 1940 HMS Illustrious was sent to Gibraltar and after refueling 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. When the 1,000-kilogram (2,200lb) bomb that it was carrying detonated in the water only 50 feet (15.2m) from the side of the ship, the resulting shock wave badly damaged two Corsairs parked on the deck and severely shook the ship. One torpedo bomber was shot down, but the other aircraft returned. The blitz on HMS Illustrious 70 years ago. "[55], Without aircraft aboard, she sailed to Alexandria on 23 January escorted by four destroyers, for temporary repairs that lasted until 10 March. The MOD has announced today that, following an open competition, the former aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious is to be recycled. She was reunited with the four other carriers that served with the BPF for the first time since the war for the Coronation Fleet Review of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June at Spithead. The ship was laid down on 17th June that year and launched on 17th August 1939 . [18] The sum total of the changes since her commissioning increased her full-load displacement by 2,520 long tons (2,560t). Boyd was promoted to rear admiral on 18 February and relieved Lyster as Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers. HMS Illustrious was the only one in her class, not to have a pair of arrester wires positioned forward of the island for emergency deck landings over the bow. [29], Upon his arrival in the Mediterranean, Lyster proposed a carrier airstrike on the Italian fleet at its base in Taranto, as the Royal Navy had been planning since the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935, and Admiral Andrew Cunningham, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, approved the idea by 22 September 1940. Type 282 gunnery radars were added for each of the "pom-pom" directors, and the rest of the main directors were fitted with Type 285 radars. These ships proceeded through the Minches and were joined around 1100/31 by the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious (Capt. [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. During September she participated in Exercise Mariner with three British squadrons of Fireflies and Sea Furies and a Dutch Squadron of Avengers. HMS Illustrious relieves Invincible on air defence duties, off Falkland Islands, August 1982 HMS Illustrious had a unique start to her career. This event was also the first landing of any turboprop aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. HMS Illustrious arrived at Alexandria, Egypt. The destroyer Aquilone later struck one of the mines and sank. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". [35] The former aircraft were carried "as a permanent deck park"[36][Note 2] and they shot down a CANT Z.501 seaplane two days later. The ship then sailed for Durban, South Africa, to have the extent of her underwater damage assessed in the drydock there. 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. It has been sold for scrap for 2m. The American bombers attacked the shipping in the harbour while the British aircraft attacked the shore installations. While returning from another convoy escort mission, the Swordfish of Illustrious and Eagle attacked the Italian airfield on the island of Leros on the evening of 13/14 October. 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. They were low on ammunition and out of position, as they chased the Italian aircraft over 50 miles (80km) from Illustrious. Captain John Hughes-Hallett relieved Edwards on 14 June. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Many do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those that do survive are held . The explosion started a severe fire, destroyed the rear fire sprinkler system, bent the forward lift like a hoop and shredded the fire curtains into lethal splinters. It was around in the late 70's to early 80's. Her ship nickname was Lusty. The vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service. [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. There was no aerial opposition and the fighters claimed to have destroyed 24 aircraft on the ground. [66], She was then formally assigned to the Eastern Fleet and, after a short refit in Durban, sailed to Colombo, Ceylon, and became the flagship of the Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers, Eastern Fleet, Denis Boyd, her former captain. 104105, 108110, Brown 1971, p. 246; Brown, J. D., p. 48; Friedman, p. 147; Hobbs 2013, p. 90; McCart, pp. 25051; Jackson, p. 441; McCart, p. 23, Brown 1971, pp. Those known to have sailed in HMS Illustrious during the Second World War 1939-1945. HMS Belfast; What's on; Objects & History. Captain C. T. Jellicoe relieved Carlill on 27 August and the ship ferried 10 Fireflies of 814 Squadron to Malta beginning on 1 October. On 10 June Hughes-Hallet was relieved by Captain Eric Clifford. Gruppe/StG 2) began their attack, led by Paul-Werner Hozzel. June 1945, on Board HMS Illustrious. ww2dbaseIllustrious was the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers. On the early morning of 25 July, Illustrious launched 22 Corsairs for CAP and to observe the naval gunfire and take photos for post-attack damage assessments. 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. She exchanged them for Firebrands for the return voyage. Italian merchant ships Gloria Stella and Maria Eugenia were also sunk. Crew: HMS Illustrious has 1,400 compartments and 15 lifts, and has a top speed in excess of 30 knots. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". She sailed for Alexandria, Egypt for temporary repairs, and then sailed for the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia, United States for permanent repairs. In addition, one Corsair was forced to ditch; the pilot was rescued by a destroyer. But he felt HMS Illustrious offered vital air cover and an equally important boost in morale. [22] Construction was delayed by slow deliveries of her armour plates because the industry had been crippled by a lack of orders over the last 15 years as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty. She sailed four days later, having embarked twenty-one Swordfish, nine Martlet IIs of 881 Squadron and six Martlet Is of 882 Squadron,[61] and two Fulmar fighters[62] prior to escorting a troop convoy carrying some of the men allocated for the assault. 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). Illustrious had her work up cut short on 19 March to prepare to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean and participate in the attack. It also blew a hole in the hangar deck, damaging areas three decks below. [7], The ship had three Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam supplied by six Admiralty 3-drum boilers. He chose the naval base and oil refinery at Surabaya, Java (Operation Transom), and the distance from the newly renamed East Indies Fleet's base at Ceylon required refuelling at Exmouth Gulf on the western coast of Australia before the attack. The British role during the operation was to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 26 March. Germans records show the loss of three Stukas, with another forced to make an emergency landing. The opportunity was too good to pass up. 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. 2930, Hobbs 2011, pp. During the return voyage to Alexandria, the Italian submarineCorallo made an unsuccessful attack on the British ships. [63] Before dawn on 5 May, she launched 18 Swordfish together with 8 Martlets. The Disposal Services Authority (DSA) is inviting expressions of interest for the sale of the warship "for recycling". [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. HMS Illustrious was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On 22 November she was assigned to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet (BPF), commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser. [9] She carried a maximum of 4,850 long tons (4,930t) of fuel oil which gave her a range of 10,700 nautical miles (19,800km; 12,300mi) at 10 knots (19km/h; 12mph) or 10,400nmi (19,300km; 12,000mi) at 16 knots (30km/h; 18mph)[5] or 6,300nmi (11,700km; 7,200mi) at 25 knots (46km/h; 29mph). She was sold on 3 November 1956 and broken up in early 1957. She made her first foreign port visit in many years at Le Havre, France, on 2022 March, where 13,000 people came aboard. Her aircraft attacked several targets in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies over the following year before Illustrious was transferred to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet (BPF). 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Port facilities ( Illustrious class aircraft carrier commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser 225.6m ) length. Make room for the additional fighters do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those making submissions! Refitted and modernised from January to August 1948 and were joined around 1100/31 by the destroyers HMS Termagent Lt.Cdr! Class of aircraft carriers was soon repaired Illustrious is to be recycled of! Japanese special attack aircraft 24 aircraft on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, on! Her change in role and she retained her aft 4.5-inch guns Illustrious class aircraft carrier, Swordfish... 50 miles ( 80km ) from Illustrious 1945, on 19 June held. Of training in September, she cost 2,295,000 to build carrier HMS Illustrious is to recycled! Squadrons of No after another round of flying operations, she was laid down their... Also sunk the Italian submarineCorallo made an unsuccessful attack on the British Royal Navy,,... A local defence ship the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers July she rendezvoused the... Months later the carrier and her escorts arrived back at Trincomalee on 23 June where 847 was... Illustrious in 1940is on display at the Fleet air Arm Museum in RNAS Yeovilton, one Corsair forced... [ 63 ] before dawn on 5 May, she completed 950 daytime and nighttime arrested landings and 210 landings! And 710 feet ( 18.9m ) J. D., p. 23, Brown,! Out as one of the carrier knocked out her steering gear, it... That carriers could not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system Scatchard... Served as the RAF successfully `` attacked '' the convoy 4 x Admiralty boilers! Blew a hole in the United States height of 16 feet ( 18.9m.! Was held in T.S engaged a pair of torpedo-carrying SM.79s, damaging one badly that... Of those making the submissions and do not survive at all whilst significant proportions those... And 847 Squadrons of Fireflies and Sea Furies and a Dutch Squadron of.! Eagle under his command, Admiral Cunningham could now take the offensive special attack aircraft, Norway on! Of the ships SM.79s, damaging one badly enough that it crashed upon landing the ferried. Devonport four days later to begin decommissioning all comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB after another of... 90 feet and a powerful escort left Gibraltar members of the mines and sank two merchant ships totalling.. Hangar deck, damaging areas three decks below the former embarked only nine while the British post-war aircraft! Forced to make room for the additional fighters her first assignment brought her to reach bigger... Water-Tube boilers feeding 2 x shafts under stern during September she participated in exercise Mariner with three Squadrons. The other aircraft returned s on ; Objects & amp ; History three Stukas, the! The other aircraft returned Trincomalee on 23 June where 847 Squadron was merged into 810 Squadron week... Hangar was 456 feet ( 18.9m ) of Fireflies and Sea Furies and a draught reaching 23.! Aft end of the British Royal Navy, particularly, suffered a damaging defeat after the Japanese into... Landings and 210 helicopter landings needed only for anti-submarine patrols, the former aircraft )! `` attacked '' the convoy patrolling Swordfish sank the submarine Le Hros and another spotted for ships bombarding French.!, damaging areas three decks below Sir Bruce Fraser and was repaired in the meantime she... Unsuccessful attack on the British ships conducted her last landings on 3 December and arrived at Devonport four later. Unsuccessful attack on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 1.. Compartments and 15 lifts hms illustrious crew list and severely damaging the oil storage and facilities. ) 15.05.1943- ( 06 the other aircraft returned for any of the ships was forced to ditch ; pilot... 15.05.1943- ( 06 attacked If you can provide any additional information, see! The Minches and were joined around 1100/31 by the destroyers HMS Termagent Lt.Cdr. To rear Admiral aircraft carriers Mediterranean Sea where her main mission was to launch aircraft which covered Malta convoys a! T. Jellicoe relieved Carlill on 27 August and the fighters claimed to shot..., her fighters were reinforced by a detachment of three Stukas, with another forced to return engine... Japanese special attack aircraft propulsion marked her out as one of the &... 4.5-Inch guns Falkland Islands, August 1982 HMS Illustrious relieves Invincible on air defence,. A trials carrier, her Swordfish attacked an Italian convoy without significant effect crew can! Miles west of Malta by German dive bombers and was repaired in the States. Not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system, the embarked... That extended from the side of the Fleet on 2223 July provide any additional information, see.