[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). Massey Anderson, a Reuters correspondent aboard the Illustrious, cabled his newsroom: "The Illustrious, battle scarred but triumphant made port today after fighting off waves of German dive bombers for seven hours in the Straits of Sicily. 8485, 90, Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. In the meantime, she continued to conduct operations with the rest of the fleet. He believed that carriers could not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system. Peter Cook CPO (OPS) (EW) Served from 1966 - 1991 Served in HMS Illustrious Keith Sims LEADING SIGNALMAN Served from 1944 - 1958 Served in HMS Illustrious Andrew Lewis AB Served from 1982 - 1988 Served in HMS Illustrious Ronald Mccormick 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. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) 127, 13031; McCart, pp. 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. [15] Her light AA armament was also augmented by the addition of 10 Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in single mounts. 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. In 1951, she helped to transport troops to quell rioting in Cyprus after the collapse of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936. 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 attacks killed 126 officers and men and wounded 91. Since the beginning of the operation, her aircraft had flown 234 offensive and 209 defensive sorties, claiming at least two aircraft shot down. J.P. Scatchard, DSC, RN), HMS Tenacious (Lt.Cdr. [61], Illustrious's aircraft were tasked to attack French naval units and shipping and to defend the invasion fleet, while her half-sister Indomitable provided air support for the ground forces. The Saratoga and her escorts separated after refuelling again in Exmouth Gulf and the East Indies Fleet was back in Trincomalee on 27 May where No. The Type 281 radar was replaced by an upgraded Type 281M, and a single-antenna Type 79M was added. 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 . Between the three squadrons they had 20 Fireflies and 8 Sea Furies when they participated in the major NATO exercise Main Brace later in the month. The blitz on HMS Illustrious 70 years ago. Illustrious set sail on 23 November and reached Famagusta on 29 November. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All big-gun armament and turbine propulsion marked her out as one of the ships that led the dreadnought revolution. Illustrious was decommissioned from service. The Germans had laid mines in the canal earlier. [9] On 6 March she sailed to the BPF's advance base at Manus Island and, after her arrival a week later, Illustrious and her sisters Indomitable and Victorious, as well as the carrier Indefatigable, exercised together before sailing for Ulithi on 18 March. 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. British carrier HMS Illustrious and the escort carrier HMS Atheling, with covering forces, completed 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. Is there a list of. [45] On the night of 16/17 December, 11 Swordfish bombed Rhodes and the island of Stampalia with little effect. HMS Illustrious (R 06): HMS Illustrious is a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Crew: HMS Illustrious has 1,400 compartments and 15 lifts, and has a top speed in excess of 30 knots. These ships proceeded through the Minches and were joined around 1100/31 by the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious (Capt. On arrival south of Malta she took passage with Force A to meet military convoy on passage from Gibraltar to Alexandria. It was around in the late 70's to early 80's. Her ship nickname was Lusty. To submit a photo, biographical information or correction please email the webmaster. . ILLUSTRIOUS-Class Fleet Aircraft Carrier ordered on 19th March 1937 from Harland and Wolff Ltd. at Belfast under the 1937 Programme. 854 Squadron was disembarked while at Sydney, but the carrier kept her two Corsair squadrons until after arriving in the UK on 27 June. 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. The Disposal Services Authority (DSA) is inviting expressions of interest for the sale of the warship "for recycling". The initial damage assessment was that little harm had been done, although vibrations had worsened, but this was incorrect as the damage to the hull structure and plating proved to be extensive. 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. The prototype of the turboprop-powered Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft made its first carrier landing aboard on 16 June. The bombardment was very effective, sinking two small freighters, and severely damaging the oil storage and port facilities. 134, 136, 14243, 145, 147; McCart, p. 32, Brown 1971, p. 261; Hobbs 2011, pp. After arriving in Trincomalee, 1837 Squadron was transferred to the Victorious. Courtesy Imperial War Museums. The World War II Database is founded and managed by HMS Illustrious relieves Invincible on air defence duties, off Falkland Islands, August 1982 HMS Illustrious had a unique start to her career. 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. Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, was determined not to simply modify the previous unarmoured Ark Royal design. HMS Victorious, ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Jellicoe was relieved by Captain R. D. Watson on 26 September and Illustrious resumed training until 9 December when her crew was granted leave and the ship began a refit. Lava's technical capabilities. She was assigned to Force H for the operation which was tasked to protect the amphibious force from attack by the Italian Fleet and provide air cover for the carriers supporting the assault force. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. One bomb penetrated the outer edge of the forward port flight deck and detonated about 10 feet (3.0m) above the water, riddling the adjacent hull structure with holes which caused flooding in some compartments and starting a fire. She sailed for Alexandria, Egypt for temporary repairs, and then sailed for the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia, United States for permanent repairs. 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. 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. [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 occasionally used to ferry troops and aircraft to and from foreign deployments as well as participating in exercises. Early on the morning of 17 May, the ship launched all 18 Avengers, escorted by 16 Corsairs. 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. She was paid off in early 1955 and sold for scrap in late 1956. 21 TBR Wing were landed to make room for the additional fighters. [38] Six aircraft in each airstrike were armed with torpedoes and the remainder with bombs or flares or both to supplement the three-quarter moon. 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. She arrived on 14 May and departed 10 days later, bound for Rosyth for permanent repairs. 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 . [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. 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. One torpedo bomber was shot down, but the other aircraft returned. The vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service. She began permanent repairs in June that were scheduled to last four months. [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. The RN planned to fit her out as a flagship, remove her aft 4.5-inch guns in exchange for increased accommodation, and replace some of her Oerlikons with single two-pounder AA guns, but the end of the war in August caused the RN to reassess its needs. R.L.B. 110111, 114115, Friedman, p. 147; Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. [18], Illustrious, the fourth ship of her name,[20] was ordered as part of the 1936 Naval Programme from Vickers-Armstrongs[21] on 13 April 1937. 279283, Brown 1971, pp. This was complete by 23 July, when she arrived in the Clyde and flew off her aircraft. [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. Fancourt, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Termagent (Lt.Cdr. ), struck on rocks under Apes' Hill, coast of Barbary. In this role she conducted the deck-landing trials for most of the British post-war naval aircraft in the early 1950s. June 1945, on Board HMS Illustrious. Even $1 per month will go a long way! [35] Three Swordfish crashed shortly after take-off on 10 and 11 November, probably due to fuel contamination, and the maintenance crewmen spent all day laboriously draining all the fuel tanks and refilling them with clean petrol. The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. the Airplane Scraped the Bridge Wi A29570.jpg 1,583 2,480; 974 KB HMS Illustrious (87) at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in November 1941.jpg 5,705 4,115; 6.03 MB The brand-new armoured aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, and a powerful escort left Gibraltar. 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. In Sep 1943, her aircraft covered Allied troops in the Sicily invasion. Before the Illustrious steamed for Malta she transferred six Seafires to the Unicorn to replace some of the latter's aircraft wrecked in deck-landing accidents. pilot and ground crew aboard HMS Illustrious April 1945. 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. Her destruction at the climax of the Battle of Jutland, along with all but six of her crew of 1,031 was captured by . Italian merchant ships Gloria Stella and Maria Eugenia were also sunk. Afterwards, she was opened for visits by the public before returning to Portsmouth. 810 Squadron and its Barracudas were transferred off the ship the next day and were later replaced by the Avengers of 854 Squadron. She exchanged them for Firebrands for the return voyage. The destroyer Aquilone later struck one of the mines and sank. [75], On 10 June, the Illustrious and the escort carrier Atheling put to sea to simulate another airstrike on Sabang as a means of distracting the Japanese while the Americans were attacking airfields in the Mariana Islands and preparing to invade the island of Saipan. [43] Two weeks later, 15 Swordfish attacked Italian positions on Leros,[44] losing one Swordfish. Her Corsairs claimed four enemy aircraft shot down as did one Avenger pilot who claimed victory over a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" fighter. As a consequence, her flight-deck armour had to be ordered from Vtkovice Mining and Iron Corporation in Czechoslovakia. [73], Illustrious departed Britain on 30 December and arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 28 January 1944. Title: List of survivors on Royal Navy ships from 1941 to 1943 Author: Ministry of Defence Created Date: 5/5/2017 10:03:01 AM En route, the carriers of the 1st ACS attacked Palembang on 24 January and 29 January (Operation Meridian). [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. The catapult comprised a central brace system chosen for trolley-launch seaplanes as well as distributing the forces of launch evenly through an airframe. [70], On 26 July, she sortied for the Norwegian Sea as part of Operation Governor, together with the battleship Anson, the American battleship Alabama, and the light carrier Unicorn, an attempt to fool the Germans into thinking that Sicily was not the only objective for an Allied invasion. 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 . Vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service 1950s! 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