[23] Illustrious was then towed to Buccleuch Dock for fitting out and Captain Denis Boyd was appointed to command her on 29 January 1940. 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. [73], Illustrious departed Britain on 30 December and arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 28 January 1944. 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. 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. [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. ww2dbaseAfter the war, Illustrious' role was reduced to a training and trials ship due to the heavy damage suffered during WW2. As the fleet was withdrawing, Illustrious's CAP intercepted and shot down a Nakajima Ki-43 (codenamed "Oscar") fighter and a Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" medium bomber on reconnaissance missions. 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. Please refrain from using strong language. The brand-new armoured aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, and a powerful escort left Gibraltar. While conducting her post-refit trials, she also conducted flying trials for Martlet Vs and Barracudas. Illustrious set sail on 23 November and reached Famagusta on 29 November. 1. [46] Four days later Illustrious's aircraft attacked two convoys near the Kerkennah Islands and sank two merchant ships totalling 7,437GRT. [57] Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten relieved her acting captain on 12 August, although he did not arrive aboard her until 28 August. 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. 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. The Royal Navy's 1936 Naval Programme authorised the construction of two aircraft carriers. 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. site is two fold. 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. HMS Illustrious is one of 3 Invincible class Aircraft carriers along with HMS Invincible and HMS Ark Royal, they are classed as light carriers and were designed back in the 1970s to launch aircraft for anti soviet submarines warfare like many Royal Navy warships at the time. The cover up of Churchill's Operation Paul. 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. One bomb struck and destroyed the starboard forward "pom-pom" mount closest to the island, while another passed through the forwardmost port "pom-pom" mount and failed to detonate, although it did start a fire. Four of these then flew ashore to conduct operations until they rejoined Illustrious on 14 September at Malta. 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. Left to right: LAMA James McKenzie, Edinburgh; Petty Officer RM, Wilfred Price, Brecon, Wales; LAME A S Townsend, Hope, Derbyshire. [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. ww2dbaseIn 1944, Illustrious returned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean for strikes against Japanese garrisons in the Southwest Pacific region. PO, Hopkins Hugh. Former HMS Illustrious set to sail on her final voyage. 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. [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. The ship was recommissioned in early September. The oil storage tanks were destroyed and the port facilities badly damaged by the Barracudas. [63] After her stay at Freetown, Illustrious proceeded to Durban; during the voyage her staff also fitted ASV radar to the replacement Swordfish. 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. 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 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. The bombardment was very effective, sinking two small freighters, and severely damaging the oil storage and port facilities. Her Corsairs claimed four enemy aircraft shot down as did one Avenger pilot who claimed victory over a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" fighter. She was the third warship of the . The flight deck was extended forward, which increased her overall length to 748feet 6inches (228.1m). A Hawker Sea Fury crashed while landing on 15 May, killing the pilot and two members of the deck crew. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. In addition, one Corsair was forced to ditch; the pilot was rescued by a destroyer. She was captured by. 21 Naval Torpedo-Bomber Reconnaissance Wing, "Bomb Damage to British Naval Vessels: Summary of Damage by Bombs to September 2, 1941", "Pictures: Remembering the 29 men who drowned in HMS Illustrious liberty boat disaster", "Ship models in the Monaco Naval Museum: Aircraft and Helicopter Carriers", Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Armoured aircraft carrier action and damage reports, 19401945, Maritimequest HMS Illustrious photo gallery, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Illustrious_(87)&oldid=1115451789, In front of a trumpet erect two trumpets in saltire gold, This page was last edited on 11 October 2022, at 14:53. 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. 47273, Brown 1971; pp. Two years later, she made 29.2 knots from 111,450shp (83,110kW). 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. "[55], Without aircraft aboard, she sailed to Alexandria on 23 January escorted by four destroyers, for temporary repairs that lasted until 10 March. It was one of 3 Inviciible -class light carriers. The HMS Illustrious was an aircraft carrier. In 32 years . Two months later the carrier was crippled by German dive bombers and was repaired in the United States. [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. . It gives details of over 439,000 Royal Navy and Merchant Seamen records which are searchable by name, rank, age and ship. On 22 November she was assigned to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet (BPF), commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser. 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. One patrolling Swordfish sank the submarine Le Hros and another spotted for ships bombarding French defences. ww2dbaseIn 1943, Illustrious returned to the Mediterranean Sea and joined Force H based in Gibraltar. 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. These latter aircraft lacked folding wings and could not fit on the lifts. [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 opportunity was too good to pass up. It was around in the late 70's to early 80's. Her ship nickname was Lusty. 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. 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. Brown 1977, p. 44; Friedman, p. 134; Hobbs 2013, pp. [24] She was commissioned on 16 April 1940 and, excluding her armament, she cost 2,295,000 to build. Home. [67] At the beginning of August, the ship participated in Operation Stab, a decoy invasion of the Andaman Islands to distract the Japanese when the Americans were invading the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. For this operation she had aboard six Fulmars of 806 Squadron, 23 Martlets of 881 Squadron and 18 Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons. Her light AA armament now consisted of six octuple "pom-pom" mountings, eighteen single Oerlikons, and seventeen single and two twin Bofors mounts. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". The former aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has sailed out of its home port of Portsmouth for the final time. 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. 1943, Illustrious ' role was reduced to a training and trials ship to., pp newly formed British Pacific Fleet ( BPF ), commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce.! Storage hms illustrious crew list were destroyed and the port facilities newly formed British Pacific Fleet ( BPF,... Inviciible -class light carriers 24 ] she was assigned to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet ( BPF,! 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