[7], The ship had three Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam supplied by six Admiralty 3-drum boilers. [18] At this time her complement was 1,997 officers and enlisted men. [4], Illustrious was 740 feet (225.6m) in length overall and 710 feet (216.4m) at the waterline. 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. 15 British carrier aircraft from HMS Illustrious attacked an Italian convoy off Kerkennah islands, Tunisia between 0515 and 0615 hours, sinking two of the three ships in the convoy. 7.3 The distribution of the surviving lists. 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. 110111, 114115, Friedman, p. 147; Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987b, pp. The vessel is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour after 32 years of active service. 25859, 261; Hobbs 2011, pp. Cunliffe, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral C. Moody, CB, RN), HMS Unicorn (Capt. The Japanese aircraft diving on the ILLUSTRIOUS. On 11 Jan 1941, she was attacked by German dive bombers while escorting a convoy, suffering 8 bomb hits. HMS Victorious, ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. [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. Corsairs of the HMS Illustrious ranged before taking off to strafe Japanese airfields in Sumatra. . 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. [23] Illustrious was then towed to Buccleuch Dock for fitting out and Captain Denis Boyd was appointed to command her on 29 January 1940. [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. 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 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. 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. 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. [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. The former aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has sailed out of its home port of Portsmouth for the final time. The two flare droppers also bombed the oil storage depot with minimal effect, and one bomb penetrated through the hull of the heavy cruiser Trento without detonating. [90], Captain S. H. Carlill assumed command on 24 June and the Illustrious resumed deck-landing training. Two British aircraft were lost. 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. 25051; Jackson, p. 441; McCart, p. 23, Brown 1971, pp. HMS Illustrious arrived at Alexandria, Egypt. Her light antiaircraft armament was also augmented during the refit. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. 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. A Chance-Vought Corsair JT208 buckles a wing on . PO, Hopkins Hugh. One Fulmar was lightly damaged during the battle. [43] Two weeks later, 15 Swordfish attacked Italian positions on Leros,[44] losing one Swordfish. [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. 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. De Trafford, Stretford, on 3 December 1983. [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. ww2dbaseIllustrious was the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers. Illustrious set sail on 23 November and reached Famagusta on 29 November. Twin Oerlikon mounts replaced most of the single mounts. 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. Below are just some of our members who have served at HMS Illustrious. There was no aerial opposition and the fighters claimed to have destroyed 24 aircraft on the ground. [73], Illustrious departed Britain on 30 December and arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 28 January 1944. Brown 1977, p. 44; Friedman, p. 134; Hobbs 2013, pp. 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. On 21 June, the ship launched 15 Barracudas and 23 Corsairs against the airfield and harbour of Port Blair. Former HMS Illustrious set to sail on her final voyage. Captain C. T. Jellicoe relieved Carlill on 27 August and the ship ferried 10 Fireflies of 814 Squadron to Malta beginning on 1 October. '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 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. Find An Object; IWM Collections; Stories & Videos . En route she served as the centrepiece of a convoy-defence exercise as the RAF successfully "attacked" the convoy. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 111,000shp (83,000kW), enough to give a maximum speed of 30 knots (56km/h; 35mph) at deep load. The British role during the operation was to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 26 March. [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. One aircraft of the third flight was forced to make an emergency landing and its crew was captured by the French. The main armament of the Illustrious class consisted of sixteen quick-firing (QF) 4.5-inch (110 mm) dual-purpose guns in eight twin- gun turrets, four in sponsons on each side of the hull. The MoD announced earlier this year it had been sold for 2m to a ship recycling . The ship was recommissioned in early September. All big-gun armament and turbine propulsion marked her out as one of the ships that led the dreadnought revolution. [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. HTML tags are not allowed. The ship was laid down on 17th June that year and launched on 17th August 1939 . 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. Fancourt, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Termagent (Lt.Cdr. The Association's first meeting was held in T.S. After returning home in early 1943, the ship was given a lengthy refit and briefly assigned to the Home Fleet. APRIL 1945, ON . 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. This left only 21 aircraft available for the attack. Crew: HMS Illustrious has 1,400 compartments and 15 lifts, and has a top speed in excess of 30 knots. 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. [94], Subsequent operations in the Mediterranean. "[55], Without aircraft aboard, she sailed to Alexandria on 23 January escorted by four destroyers, for temporary repairs that lasted until 10 March. [34] At this time her air group was reinforced by several of Eagle's Gloster Sea Gladiators supplementing the fighters of 806 Squadron as well as torpedo bombers from 813 and 824 Squadrons. In an effort to cure the problem, the propeller was removed, and the shaft was locked in place in February; these radical measures succeeded in reducing, but not eliminating, the vibrations and reduced the ship's speed to about 24 knots (44km/h; 28mph). The ship ultimately arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard in the United States on 12 May for permanent repairs. 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. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. Boyd was promoted to rear admiral on 18 February and relieved Lyster as Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers. . Under sustained air attack 60 miles west of Malta by German Ju87 dive bombers. [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. She relieved Triumph as the trials carrier in August and conducted trials on Firefly FR.4s, Firebrand TF.4s, de Havilland Sea Mosquitoes and de Havilland Sea Vampires over the next several months. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". 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. 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