hms illustrious crew list

Her own losses were two Avengers and three Corsairs lost in action and one Avenger and six Corsairs due to non-combat causes. PA. 8485, 90, Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. [92] A model of HMS Illustrious in 1940is on display at the Monaco Naval Museum. Illustrious is the last survivor of the Royal Navy's trio of celebrated aircraft carriers . MaritimeQuest - Nominal List of Ship's Company of HMS Illustrious Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. The British fighters claimed to have shot down five Ju 87s, with the fleet's anti-aircraft fire claiming three others. Nominal List of Ship's Company of HMS Illustrious 1944-45 This list was published in the Beacon Annual 1944-45. [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. 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. 250, 254; McCart, p. 23; Rohwer, p. 260, Brown 1971, p. 254; Brown, J. D., 6667; McCart, pp. HMS Illustrious' casualty list was terrible: 126 dead and 91 wounded. [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. As the Barracudas were needed only for anti-submarine patrols, the former embarked only nine while the latter ship flew off all her Barracudas. 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. 26364; McCart, 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. [27] Her squadrons flew back aboard, and she sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 August with 15 Fulmars and 18 Swordfish aboard. (Operation Diplomat). 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 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. She displaced 23,000 long tons (23,369t) at standard load as completed. 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. 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. The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. On 12 and 13 April, the BPF switched targets to airfields in northern Formosa and her sister joined the task force on 14 April. They were low on ammunition and out of position, as they chased the Italian aircraft over 50 miles (80km) from Illustrious. A month later the ship began a four-month refit and hosted the first carrier landing of the de Havilland Sea Venom on 9 July 1951. Germans records show the loss of three Stukas, with another forced to make an emergency landing. Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, was determined not to simply modify the previous unarmoured Ark Royal design. [45] On the night of 16/17 December, 11 Swordfish bombed Rhodes and the island of Stampalia with little effect. . 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. 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. One additional Swordfish, piloted by Lieutenant Charles Lamb, was attempting to land when the bombs began to strike and was forced to ditch when it ran out of fuel; the crew was rescued by the destroyer Juno. [84], On 31 July Captain W. D. Stephens relieved Lambe. British Swordfish torpedo bombers from carrier HMS Illustrious attacked the port of Benghazi, Libya, bombing shipping and laying mines. While conducting her post-refit trials, she also conducted flying trials for Martlet Vs and Barracudas. 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. 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. "[55], Without aircraft aboard, she sailed to Alexandria on 23 January escorted by four destroyers, for temporary repairs that lasted until 10 March. In May 1942, her aircraft provided cover for the British troops landing at Diego Suarez, Madagascar against French and French colonial troops. In Nov 1940, she launched 21 torpedo bombers against the Italian fleet at Taranto, and achieved spectacular success after sinking one battleship and damaging two others. 1. [18] The sum total of the changes since her commissioning increased her full-load displacement by 2,520 long tons (2,560t). En route, the carriers of the 1st ACS attacked Palembang on 24 January and 29 January (Operation Meridian). There was no aerial opposition and the fighters claimed to have destroyed 24 aircraft on the ground. ILLUSTRIOUS-Class Fleet Aircraft Carrier ordered on 19th March 1937 from Harland and Wolff Ltd. at Belfast under the 1937 Programme. 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. 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 . during British Pacific Fleet Operations the Illustrious Experienced a Japanese Suicide Attack. Thank you. #1. The flight deck was extended forward, which increased her overall length to 748feet 6inches (228.1m). 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. The remaining pair engaged a pair of torpedo-carrying SM.79s, damaging one badly enough that it crashed upon landing. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. 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. [24] She was commissioned on 16 April 1940 and, excluding her armament, she cost 2,295,000 to build. In addition to the other losses enumerated, 882 Squadron's Fulmar was shot down while providing ground support. She flew off her aircraft to Gibraltar on 31 January and continued on to the Clyde where she arrived five days later. [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. 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. Google her - there is an enormous amount, including an ex-crew association. HMS Belfast; What's on; Objects & History. The following day, the Fireflies of No. The cover up of Churchill's Operation Paul. 279283, Brown 1971, pp. The opportunity was too good to pass up. 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. After returning home in early 1943, the ship was given a lengthy refit and briefly assigned to the Home Fleet. 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. In 32 years . This halved the aircraft capacity compared with the older unarmoured carriers, exchanging offensive potential for defensive survivability. [94], Subsequent operations in the Mediterranean. Please refrain from using strong language. 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 . The first flight of 6 Swordfish, carrying torpedoes, unsuccessfully attacked the aviso D'Entrecasteaux, but sank the armed merchant cruiser MSBougainville. The goal of this 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. All British aircraft returned safely although one American fighter was forced to ditch during the return home. 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. HMS Indomitable in 1946 (Maritime Quest, click to enlarge) return to Contents List Modified ILLUSTRIOUS-Class Fleet Aircraft Carrier ordered under the 1937 Estimates from Vickers Armstrong, Barrow in Furness on 6th July 1937. All three were shot down for the loss of one Martlet. [42], While en route to Alexandria the ship's Fulmars engaged four CANT Z.506Bs, claiming three shot down and the fourth damaged, although Italian records indicate the loss of only two aircraft on 12 November. 15 Naval Fighter Wing with the Vought Corsairs of 1830 and 1833 Squadrons were still training ashore and flew aboard before the work up was finished on 27 December. Courtesy Imperial War Museums. The facilities there could provide only emergency repairs, enough to allow her to reach the bigger dockyard in Sydney. He believed that carriers could not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system. It was around in the late 70's to early 80's. Her ship nickname was Lusty. Although her air group was small (only 15 fighters and 18 bomber aircraft), Illustrious was one of the first warships to be fitted with air-warning radars which gave her a big advantage in fleet defence, as she could detect and track hostile aircraft and give her aircraft time to gain altitude. [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. [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). Radio. 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. Two years later, she made 29.2 knots from 111,450shp (83,110kW). [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. HMS Illustrious (Illustrious class aircraft carrier) 15.05.1943-(06. The refit was completed by the end of January 1954 and she resumed her normal role. Her air group now consisted of 36 Corsairs, 16 Avengers and two Supermarine Walrus flying boats for rescue work. HTML tags are not allowed. She was commissioned on 20th June 1982 (3 month early during work-up trials, due to the Falklands crisis). 254, 257; Brown, J. D., p. 80; McCart, pp. On 18 July she rendezvoused with the Home Fleet to participate in manoeuvres before George VI reviewed the fleet on 2223 July. A Type 272 target-indicator radar was mounted above her bridge. 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. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) Gruppe/StG 2) began their attack, led by Paul-Werner Hozzel. [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. A week later, Illustrious and Indomitable sortied to attack an oil refinery at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra (Operation Outflank); the former's airgroup now consisted of 36 Corsairs of 1830 and 1833 Squadrons and 21 Avengers of 857 Squadron. The ship completed 1,051 deck landings and steamed 4,037 nautical miles (7,477km; 4,646mi) by April. In total darkness Fasson and Grazier entered the sinking submarine to capture instruments and documentation fully aware of the dangers. "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. In Sep 1943, her aircraft covered Allied troops in the Sicily invasion. One patrolling Swordfish sank the submarine Le Hros and another spotted for ships bombarding French defences. HMS Illustrious relieves Invincible on air defence duties, off Falkland Islands, August 1982 HMS Illustrious had a unique start to her career. 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. The full crew list can be displayed for any of the ships. While repair work was being done at Malta, she was once again bombed. 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. 17, 19; Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. While running trials in 1948, after another refit, she reached a maximum speed of 29 knots (54km/h; 33mph) from 110,680shp (82,530kW). 47273, Brown 1971; pp. War Hero. This included the battleships Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, Giulio Cesare, Caio Duilio, Andrea Doria, and Conte di Cavour, the first two of those being brand new, along with several cruisers and destroyers. Covering the years 1851-1911, these include lists and agreements for those involved in merchant shipping and ship crews for those at home ports, sea and abroad. On 11 Jan 1941, she was attacked by German dive bombers while escorting a convoy, suffering 8 bomb hits. 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 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. 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. 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. Those known to have sailed in HMS Illustrious during the Second World War 1939-1945. [30] While escorting a convoy to Malta on 29 September, the carrier's Fulmars broke up attacks by Italian high-level and torpedo bombers, shooting down one for the loss of one fighter. Two months later the carrier was crippled by German dive bombers and was repaired in the United States. Many do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those that do survive are held . It dived out of the clouds on the port bow and from the time it emerged from the clouds until the time it hit the water was only 11 seconds. British carrier HMS Illustrious left Malta for Alexandria, Egypt. The oil storage tanks were destroyed and the port facilities badly damaged by the Barracudas. 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. To submit a photo, biographical information or correction please email the webmaster. En route she served as the centrepiece of a convoy-defence exercise as the RAF successfully "attacked" the convoy. On 10 June Hughes-Hallet was relieved by Captain Eric Clifford. The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. 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. Illustrious set sail on 23 November and reached Famagusta on 29 November. 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. PO, Hopkins Hugh. A list of the crew, with their Register Ticket numbers, to be filed for a foreign-going ship on sailing. On arrival south of Malta she took passage with Force A to meet military convoy on passage from Gibraltar to Alexandria. 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. SERVING WITH THE ILLUSTRIOUS. It gives details of over 439,000 Royal Navy and Merchant Seamen records which are searchable by name, rank, age and ship. She was sold for scrap on 3 Nov 1954 and was broken up in 1956 as Faslane. This event was also the first landing of any turboprop aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. [16] After her return to the UK later that year, her Type 79Z radar was replaced by a Type 281 system and a Type 285 gunnery radar was mounted on one of the main fire-control directors. One aircraft of the third flight was forced to make an emergency landing and its crew was captured by the French. She next put to sea on 24 April 1953 for trials and did not resume training pilots until the following month. Illustrious was paid off at the end of February 1955 and she was towed to Gareloch and placed in reserve. 21 Wing reembarked. Later in the month she hosted the Sea Furies of 802 and the Fireflies of 814 Squadrons for Exercise Winged Fleet. Later that day seven Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 medium bombers were intercepted by three Fulmars, which claimed to have shot down one bomber and damaged another. The bombardment was very effective, sinking two small freighters, and severely damaging the oil storage and port facilities. [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. Second, it is to showcase [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. Led by HMS Illustrious (aka "Lusty"), elements of the UK's Response Force Task Group (RFTG), left Portsmouth on Oct. 1, to take part to part to a series of exercises around the UK as well . WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. 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. 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 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. PA. Two days later, one of three Fulmars that intercepted an Axis air raid on the Maltese airfields was shot down with no survivors. [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. [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. For this operation, her fighters were reinforced by a detachment of three Fulmars from 805 Squadron. HMS Kelly was Mountbatten's ship. The American bombers attacked the shipping in the harbour while the British aircraft attacked the shore installations. 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. HMS Illustrious was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II. 2627; Sturtivant, p. 327, Brown 1971, p. 257; Brown, J. D., pp. All big-gun armament and turbine propulsion marked her out as one of the ships that led the dreadnought revolution. The blitz on HMS Illustrious 70 years ago. The attackers were all shot down, but two shells fired by either Indomitable or the battleship King George V struck Illustrious, killing 12 and wounding 21 men. 21 TBR Wing were landed to make room for the additional fighters. This aircraft was one of the ancestors of the Supermarine Swift fighter. The Illustrious-class carriers were of a new school of thinking, providing battlecruiser class armor to purpose-built carriers. As a result, Illustrious was dispatched to the Indian Ocean instead of returning to the Mediterranean. 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. [89] Illustrious resumed her duties in early 1949 and conducted trials and training for Avengers, Fireflies, Gloster Meteors, de Havilland Sea Hornets, Vampires and Seafires. For the next six weeks she carried out an intensive flying regime in preparation for the next operations against the Japanese together with the other carriers of the fleet. [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. [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. Second of the Invincible class aircraft carriers, she was in the latter stages of construction at Swan Hunters on the Tyne during Falkland's war of 1982. After another round of flying operations, she visited Trondheim, Norway, on 19 June. The King and Queen inspected Illustrious and her crew, as did Prime Minister Clement Attlee and his wife. The ship was equipped with two unarmoured lifts on the centreline, each of which measured 45 by 22 feet (13.7 by 6.7m). For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Boyd was promoted to rear admiral on 18 February and relieved Lyster as Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers. [18] Two more twin Oerlikon mounts were added, and her boilers were retubed. The roofs of the gun turrets protruded above the level of the flight deck to allow them to fire across the deck at high elevations. HMS Illustrious arrived at Alexandria, Egypt. pilot and ground crew aboard HMS Illustrious April 1945. [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. [64][65] Illustrious' aircraft flew 209 sorties and suffered six deck landing crashes, including four by Martlets. [33] She sailed from Alexandria on 6 November, escorted by the battleships Warspite, Malaya, and Valiant, two light cruisers, and 13 destroyers, to provide air cover for another convoy to Malta. HMS Illustrious 'suicide Bombed'. DURING BRITISH PACIFIC FLEET OPERATIONS THE ILLUSTRIOUS EXPERIENCED A JAPANESE SUICIDE ATTACK. A Chance-Vought Corsair JT208 buckles a wing on . [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. 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 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. [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. By the end of 1901, she was fitted or due . [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. [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. [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. JUNE 1945, ON BOARD HMS ILLUSTRIOUS. She was occasionally used to ferry troops and aircraft to and from foreign deployments as well as participating in exercises. THE AIRPLANE SCRAPED . [5] Her complement was approximately 1,299 officers and enlisted men upon completion in 1940. 134, 136, 14243, 145, 147; McCart, p. 32, Brown 1971, p. 261; Hobbs 2011, pp. It was one of 3 Inviciible -class light carriers. The roofs of the gun turrets protruded above the level of the flight deck to allow them to fire across the deck at high elevations. Her length was 640 feet with a beam of over 90 feet and a draught reaching 23 feet. 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 was christened by Lady Henderson, wife of the recently retired Third Sea Lord. [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.

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