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. [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. [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. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". 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. hms orion crew listdoes keegan allen have a child 26th February 2023 / in west warwick viewpoint / by / in west warwick viewpoint / by Later that morning three of the five Fulmars on Combat Air Patrol (CAP) engaged three SM.79s at low altitude, claiming one shot down. [68] Captain Robert Cunliffe relieved Talbott on 22 August. 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. Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 19 December 1796 - HMS Courageux (1753/1761 - 74), Lt. John Burrows (Act. She was occasionally used to ferry troops and aircraft to and from foreign deployments as well as participating in exercises. The ship resumed flying training off the north coast of Scotland in October for two weeks, but she spent most of the rest of the year on trials of the new mirror-landing system that automated the process of landing aircraft aboard. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. 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. [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. 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. British carrier HMS Illustrious left Malta for Alexandria, Egypt. She arrived on 16 April and the examination by divers revealed that some of her outer plating was split and that some transverse frames were cracked. 4 Squadron, RNNAS and 824 Squadron landed aboard for more deck-landing training. The Stukas also near-missed Illustrious with two bombs, which caused minor damage and flooding. [18] A five-bladed propeller was installed on her centre shaft although the increasing wear on her outer shafts later partially negated the reduction in vibration. [18] Two more twin Oerlikon mounts were added, and her boilers were retubed. On 12 and 13 April, the BPF switched targets to airfields in northern Formosa and her sister joined the task force on 14 April. 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. Hundreds watched in quiet reflection as the ship sailed out of Portsmouth on her final . [59] While working up her air group in March, reinforced by the Grumman Martlet fighters (the British name of the F4F Wildcat) of 881 and 882 Squadrons, she conducted trials of a "hooked" Supermarine Spitfire fighter, the prototype of the Seafire. These ships proceeded through the Minches and were joined around 1100/31 by the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious (Capt. [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. On 22 November she was assigned to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet (BPF), commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser. Ld.Sea Johnson Charles Thomas. 47273, Brown 1971; pp. The vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) 279283, Brown 1971, pp. [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. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. It has been sold for scrap for 2m. Illustrious began her final maintenance period at Devonport Royal Dockyard on 10 December. 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. Her Corsairs claimed four enemy aircraft shot down as did one Avenger pilot who claimed victory over a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" fighter. [78] She was assigned to the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron (1st ACS), commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Philip Vian when he arrived at Colombo aboard the carrier Indefatigable. 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 second flight, carrying depth charges, sank the submarine Bvziers while the third flight dropped leaflets over the defenders before attacking an artillery battery and D'Entrecasteaux. [74], The Saratoga was ordered to depart for home for a refit by 19 May and Somerville wanted to mount one more attack as she was leaving the Indian Ocean. She began working up off Plymouth, but the German conquest of France made this too risky, and Illustrious sailed for Bermuda later in the month to continue working up. All three were shot down for the loss of one Martlet. 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. For this operation, her fighters were reinforced by a detachment of three Fulmars from 805 Squadron. #1. This aircraft was one of the ancestors of the Supermarine Swift fighter. The statue of Our Lady remains standing amid the destruction at Senglea caused by repeated raids by German dive-bombers, which started on January 16 . While off Malta two days later, six of the carrier's fighters engaged an equal number of Fiat CR.42 Falco biplane fighters, shooting down one and damaging two others. Her air group was reinforced at this time by four more Martlets each for 878 and 890 Squadrons. HMS Kelly was Mountbatten's ship. [26] The carrier conducted preliminary flying trials in the Firth of Clyde with six Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers that had been craned aboard earlier. Gruppe/StG 2) began their attack, led by Paul-Werner Hozzel. News stories in brief from around the World. The British fighters claimed to have shot down five Ju 87s, with the fleet's anti-aircraft fire claiming three others. The Association's first meeting was held in T.S. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 23rd of March please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day . 21 Wing reembarked. However, her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic . During the return voyage to Alexandria, the Italian submarineCorallo made an unsuccessful attack on the British ships. 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. It also blew a hole in the hangar deck, damaging areas three decks below. War Hero. 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). 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. 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. In May 1942, her aircraft provided cover for the British troops landing at Diego Suarez, Madagascar against French and French colonial troops. Copyright 2004-2023 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, Aircraft Carrier Illustrious Photo Gallery, See all 20 photographs of Aircraft Carrier Illustrious, Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness, Britain, 6 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 3 Parsons geared turbines, 3 shafts, 8x2 QF 4.5in naval guns, 6x8 QF 2 pounder naval guns. The crew of the submarine surrendered and survivors were taken off. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. [31] The fire destroyed three Swordfish and heavily damaged two others, but they were replaced by aircraft from Eagle, whose contaminated fuel tanks prevented her from participating in the attack. In addition, one Corsair was forced to ditch; the pilot was rescued by a destroyer. 2627; Sturtivant, p. 327, Brown 1971, p. 257; Brown, J. D., pp. Other twin mounts were added so that by May she had a total of eighteen twin and two single mounts. Google her - there is an enormous amount, including an ex-crew association. She conducted her last landings on 3 December and arrived at Devonport four days later to begin decommissioning. 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. PO, Hopkins Hugh. The cover up of Churchill's Operation Paul. As the Barracudas were needed only for anti-submarine patrols, the former embarked only nine while the latter ship flew off all her Barracudas. [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. In Sep 1943, her aircraft covered Allied troops in the Sicily invasion. 26364; McCart, pp. In reality, they heavily damaged three of the Italian aircraft. The former aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has sailed out of its home port of Portsmouth for the final time. Illustrious set sail on 23 November and reached Famagusta on 29 November. [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 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. Cunliffe, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral C. Moody, CB, RN), HMS Unicorn (Capt. June 1945, on Board HMS Illustrious. Afterwards, she was opened for visits by the public before returning to Portsmouth. The Royal Air Force (RAF) had positioned a Short Sunderland flying boat off the harbour to search for any movement to or from the port and this was detected at 17:55 by acoustic locators and again at 20:40, alerting the defenders. ww2dbaseAfter the war, Illustrious' role was reduced to a training and trials ship due to the heavy damage suffered during WW2. Aircraft Carrier Illustrious Interactive Map. 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. [63] Before dawn on 5 May, she launched 18 Swordfish together with 8 Martlets. On 18 July she rendezvoused with the Home Fleet to participate in manoeuvres before George VI reviewed the fleet on 2223 July. The multiple hits at the aft end of the carrier knocked out her steering gear, although it was soon repaired. On 21 June, the ship launched 15 Barracudas and 23 Corsairs against the airfield and harbour of Port Blair. Courtesy Imperial War Museums. [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. Radio. British Fleet Air Arm Swordfish aircraft of HMS Illustrious spotted French submarine Le Hros off Courrier Bay, Madagascar at 0500 hours and attacked with depth charges; Le Hros attempted to evade by diving, but ultimately would be forced to surface and would be scuttled by her own crew to prevent capture. Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. For this operation she had aboard six Fulmars of 806 Squadron, 23 Martlets of 881 Squadron and 18 Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons. The prototype of the turboprop-powered Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft made its first carrier landing aboard on 16 June. 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. The carrier's air group consisted of 21 Barracudas and 28 Corsairs for the operation; Illustrious launched 17 of the former escorted by 13 of the latter on the morning of 19 April. PA. After the tour's conclusion on 12 May, she sailed for Scottish waters for more deck-landing practice with the destroyer Rocket as her planeguard. While running trials in 1948, after another refit, she reached a maximum speed of 29 knots (54km/h; 33mph) from 110,680shp (82,530kW). This left only 21 aircraft available for the attack. With both Illustrious and Eagle under his command, Admiral Cunningham could now take the offensive. Fancourt, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Termagent (Lt.Cdr. [13], While under repair in 1941, Illustrious's rear "round-down" was flattened to increase the usable length of the flight deck to 670 feet (204.2m). [5] Her complement was approximately 1,299 officers and enlisted men upon completion in 1940. 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 . A follow on airstrike was planned for the next night based on the pessimistic assessments of the aircrews, but it was cancelled due to bad weather. In quiet reflection as the ship launched 15 Barracudas and 23 Corsairs against the airfield and Harbour of hms illustrious crew list. Maintenance period at Devonport four days later to begin decommissioning, p. 257 Brown... 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