This event was also the first landing of any turboprop aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. The ship was recommissioned in early September. 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. 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. 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. 'The crew of HMS Daring have done a fantastic job in the Philippines and I am pleased that HMS Illustrious will be able to continue t Lacking that, there was nothing to prevent land-based aircraft from attacking them, especially in confined waters like the North Sea and Mediterranean. [45] On the night of 16/17 December, 11 Swordfish bombed Rhodes and the island of Stampalia with little effect. Please refrain from using strong language. 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. [79], On 16 January 1945 the BPF sailed for its primary base in the Pacific Ocean, Sydney, Australia. during British Pacific Fleet Operations the Illustrious Experienced a Japanese Suicide Attack. Even $1 per month will go a long way! 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. Two years later, she made 29.2 knots from 111,450shp (83,110kW). Under sustained air attack 60 miles west of Malta by German Ju87 dive bombers. [41], One torpedo-carrying aircraft of the second wave was forced to return when its long-range external fuel tank fell off, but the others hit the Littorio once more and the Duilio was hit once when they attacked beginning at 23:55. 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. Cunliffe, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral C. Moody, CB, RN), HMS Unicorn (Capt. Pictured Paragraphs Launch Of Cruiser, Drums For Battalion Of Koyli, Presentation Of Chiropody Van, Old Ships In Us, Telegraph Boys In City Streets, Ra Corps Boys Sign On, Haile Selassie And Abyssinians, HMS Illustrious Safe After Attack In Mediterranean, King Haakon And Norwegian Sailors, Mr Churchill Sees Coastal Defences 1941 Illustrious-class carriers enjoyed a thick metal flight deck, which would later prove to be valuable against kamikaze attacks that would be thrown at them. [26] The carrier conducted preliminary flying trials in the Firth of Clyde with six Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers that had been craned aboard earlier. In addition to the other losses enumerated, 882 Squadron's Fulmar was shot down while providing ground support. 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. 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. [22] She was laid down at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard two weeks later as yard number 732 and launched on 5 April 1939. The Illustrious-class carriers were of a new school of thinking, providing battlecruiser class armor to purpose-built carriers. 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 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. In this role she conducted the deck-landing trials for most of the British post-war naval aircraft in the early 1950s. 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. It had a height of 16 feet (4.9m) which allowed storage of Lend-Lease Vought F4U Corsair fighters once their wingtips were clipped. 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. While at anchor in Portland Harbour on 17 October, one of her boats foundered 50 yards (46m) short of the ship in heavy weather; 29 men lost their lives. ww2dbaseAfter the war, Illustrious' role was reduced to a training and trials ship due to the heavy damage suffered during WW2. . PA. However, her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic . 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. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. 17, 19; Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. The MoD announced earlier this year it had been sold for 2m to a ship recycling . Captain C. T. Jellicoe relieved Carlill on 27 August and the ship ferried 10 Fireflies of 814 Squadron to Malta beginning on 1 October. [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. [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. She reached Durban on 4 April and remained there for two weeks. Many do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those that do survive are held . The Association's first meeting was held in T.S. 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. HMS Victorious, ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Reconnaissance photos taken by the R.A.F. 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. 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. [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. The pilots of 806 Squadron claimed to have shot down two of the former and possibly damaged another pair, but a 500kg bomb penetrated her flight deck aft of the rear lift and detonated in the captain's day cabin; several other bombs nearly hit the ship but only caused minor damage. Two British aircraft were lost. HMS Kelly was Mountbatten's ship. Left to right: LAMA James McKenzie, Edinburgh; Petty Officer RM, Wilfred Price, Brecon, Wales; LAME A S Townsend, Hope, Derbyshire. The attack was very successful at heavy cost; between the two air operations, her squadrons lost five Corsairs to enemy flak or fighters and one due to a mechanical problem on take-off as well as three Avengers to enemy action. During a severe gale in late October, the ship aided the small coastal steamer SSYewpark that had lost power. [8] On 24 May 1940 Illustrious ran her sea trials and her engines reached 113,700shp (84,800kW). If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. 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. 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. She conducted deck-landing trials for prototypes of the Blackburn Firebrand and Fairey Firefly fighters, as well as the Fairey Barracuda dive/torpedo bomber from 8 to 10 February. ww2dbaseThe repair work completed in May 1942. 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. [64][65] Illustrious' aircraft flew 209 sorties and suffered six deck landing crashes, including four by Martlets. 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. 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 . With both Illustrious and Eagle under his command, Admiral Cunningham could now take the offensive. 150, 159; Hobbs 2013, p. 91; McCart, pp. Her beam was 95feet 9inches (29.2m) at the waterline and she had a draught of 28feet 10inches (8.8m) at deep load. The ship was laid down on 17th June that year and launched on 17th August 1939 . For the operation the carrier's air group numbered 25 Martlets, 1 night-fighting Fulmar and 21 Swordfish, and was consequently was forced to have a permanent deck park of 5 Martlets and one Swordfish. 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 HMS Hermes, was converted to a helicopter carrier, and then to a vertical take-off and landing aircraft carrier - suitable for the Harrier jump jets which were invaluable to military efforts during the Falklands War. [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. [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 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. The World War II Database is founded and managed by 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. [69], After a farewell visit from the Eastern Fleet commander, Admiral Sir James Somerville on 12 January 1943, Illustrious sailed for home the next day. The full crew list can be displayed for any of the ships. As built, HMS Unicorn displaced 16,770 tons under standard load and up to 20,600 tons under full load. HTML tags are not allowed. [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. Illustrious began her final maintenance period at Devonport Royal Dockyard on 10 December. [49], On 7 January 1941, Illustrious set sail to provide air cover for convoys to Piraeus, Greece and Malta as part of Operation Excess. The hangar was 456 feet (139.0m) long and had a maximum width of 62 feet (18.9m). "[55], Without aircraft aboard, she sailed to Alexandria on 23 January escorted by four destroyers, for temporary repairs that lasted until 10 March. After summer leave for her crew, she resumed deck-landing trials in September and October,[86] including the initial trials of the prototype Supermarine Attacker jet-powered fighter in the latter month. 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 Nominal List of Ship's Company of HMS Illustrious 1944-45 This list was published in the Beacon Annual 1944-45. 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. On 8 and 9 November the Supermarine 510 research aircraft made the first ever landings by a swept-wing aircraft aboard a carrier. She sailed for Alexandria, Egypt for temporary repairs, and then sailed for the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia, United States for permanent repairs. 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