Twin Oerlikon mounts replaced most of the single mounts. She was commissioned on 20th June 1982 (3 month early during work-up trials, due to the Falklands crisis). We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. This aircraft was one of the ancestors of the Supermarine Swift fighter. [47] On the morning of 22 December, 13 Swordfish attacked Tripoli harbour, starting fires and hitting warehouses multiple times. 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. All three were shot down for the loss of one Martlet. This was complete by 23 July, when she arrived in the Clyde and flew off her aircraft. While repair work was being done at Malta, she was once again bombed. 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. 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. The crew of the submarine surrendered and survivors were taken off. 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. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. [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. Two British aircraft were lost. 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. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". Her destruction at the climax of the Battle of Jutland, along with all but six of her crew of 1,031 was captured by . PA. [18] At this time her complement was 1,997 officers and enlisted men. Find An Object; IWM Collections; Stories & Videos . 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. DURING BRITISH PACIFIC FLEET OPERATIONS THE ILLUSTRIOUS EXPERIENCED A JAPANESE SUICIDE ATTACK. In the meantime, she continued to conduct operations with the rest of the fleet. [6], The 753-foot (229.5m) armoured flight deck had a usable length of 620 feet (189.0m), due to prominent "round-downs"[Note 1] at each end designed to reduce the effects of air turbulence caused by the carrier's structure on aircraft taking-off and landing, and a maximum width of 95 feet (29.0m). Even $1 per month will go a long way! [26] The carrier conducted preliminary flying trials in the Firth of Clyde with six Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers that had been craned aboard earlier. Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. 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. [94], Subsequent operations in the Mediterranean. The ship was recommissioned in early September. 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. On 21 June, the ship launched 15 Barracudas and 23 Corsairs against the airfield and harbour of Port Blair. She made her first foreign port visit in many years at Le Havre, France, on 2022 March, where 13,000 people came aboard. This section includes over 21.000 Allied Warships and over 11.000 Allied Commanders of WWII, from the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Australian Navy, The Polish Navy and others. 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. (Operation Diplomat). He transferred his flag to Formidable when she arrived at Alexandria on 10 March, just before Illustrious sailed for Port Said to begin her transit of the Suez Canal. THE AIRPLANE SCRAPED . A list of the crew, with their Register Ticket numbers, to be filed for a foreign-going ship on sailing. [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. British carrier HMS Illustrious left Malta for Alexandria, Egypt. This halved the aircraft capacity compared with the older unarmoured carriers, exchanging offensive potential for defensive survivability. The opportunity was too good to pass up. The carrier, steering only by using her engines, was attacked several more times before she entered Grand Harbour's breakwater at 21:04, still on fire. [19] In 1947 she carried five 8-barrel pom-poms, 17 Bofors and 16 Oerlikons. [15] Her light AA armament was also augmented by the addition of 10 Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon in single mounts. [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. The ship was equipped with two unarmoured lifts on the centreline, each of which measured 45 by 22 feet (13.7 by 6.7m). 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. [73], Illustrious departed Britain on 30 December and arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 28 January 1944. Second, it is to showcase Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) 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. [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. 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. [84], On 31 July Captain W. D. Stephens relieved Lambe. Under sustained air attack 60 miles west of Malta by German Ju87 dive bombers. [46] Four days later Illustrious's aircraft attacked two convoys near the Kerkennah Islands and sank two merchant ships totalling 7,437GRT. Early on the morning of 17 May, the ship launched all 18 Avengers, escorted by 16 Corsairs. 30, 32, Brown 1971, 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. 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. The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. [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. 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. 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. 134, 136, 14243, 145, 147; McCart, p. 32, Brown 1971, p. 261; Hobbs 2011, pp. 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. 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. The ship was laid down on 17th June that year and launched on 17th August 1939 . HMS Illustrious relieves Invincible on air defence duties, off Falkland Islands, August 1982 HMS Illustrious had a unique start to her career. The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". The catapult comprised a central brace system chosen for trolley-launch seaplanes as well as distributing the forces of launch evenly through an airframe. [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). Below are just some of our members who have served at HMS Illustrious. Her fighter complement was augmented by 878 and 890 Squadrons, each with 10 Martlet Vs, and 894 Squadron with 10 Seafire IICs. The two airstrikes had changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean by rendering the Conte di Cavour unavailable for the rest of the war, and badly damaging the Littorio and the Duilio. [18] Two more twin Oerlikon mounts were added, and her boilers were retubed. Illustrious was not struck during these attacks but was near-missed several times and the resulting shock waves from their detonations dislodged enough hull plating to cause an immediate 5-degree list, cracked the cast-iron foundations of her port turbine, and damaged other machinery. [68] Captain Robert Cunliffe relieved Talbott on 22 August. Gruppe/StG 2) began their attack, led by Paul-Werner Hozzel. [11] This version of the radar had separate transmitting and receiving antennas which required a new mainmast to be added to the aft end of the island to mount the transmitter. Illustrious was commissioned into service. [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. 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. Cunliffe, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral C. Moody, CB, RN), HMS Unicorn (Capt. [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. HMS Cumberland carried out offensive sweep in Indian Ocean with HM Battleships Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, HM Battlecruiser Renown, HM Aircraft Carrier Illustrious, HM Cruisers London, Gambia and Ceylon screened by fleet destroyers. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) . One Fulmar was lightly damaged during the battle. [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. Her light antiaircraft armament was also augmented during the refit. 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. [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). The flight deck was extended forward, which increased her overall length to 748feet 6inches (228.1m). The British ships were spotted by Blohm & Voss BV 138 flying boats and 890 Squadron shot down two of them before the fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 29 July. 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. 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. 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