- HMS Illustrious (87)
HMS "Illustrious" (87), the fourth "Illustrious" of the British
Royal Navy , was anaircraft carrier which saw service in World War II, thelead ship of the Illustrious class of carriers which also included "HMS Victorious (R38) ", "HMS Formidable (R67) ", and "HMS Indomitable (R92) "."Illustrious" was built by
Vickers-Armstrongs atBarrow-in-Furness , launched in 1939, and commissioned in May 1940. She displaced 23,000 tonnes and had the capability to carry up to 36 aircraft, a number greatly reduced by her armoured deck. She was nicknamed "Lusty" by the men who served on her.ervice
"Illustrious" joined the fleet in August 1940. Her first assignment was in the
Mediterranean , where she was used to provideconvoy cover, perform anti-shipping strikes, and raid positions inNorth Africa .On 31 August, she was used to launch a strike against airfields at
Maritza . On 11 November 1940, she became the first carrier in history to launch a major strike against an enemy fleet in a daring attack against the Italian fleet at Taranto. Twenty-one aircraft from Numbers 813, 815, 819, and824 Squadron s based on "Illustrious" attacked the Italian fleet at night. The Italians were caught off-guard, and onebattleship was sunk and 2 were heavily damaged.On 10 January 1941 "Illustrious" was attacked while escorting a convoy east of
Sicily by AxisSavoia-Marchetti SM.79 andJu-87 "Stuka"dive-bomber s, being hit by 8 bombs and suffering extensive damage, destroying her sick bay and ward room, and killing amongst others the England rugby playerW. G. E. Luddington . While inMalta receiving repairs for her battle damage she was again bombed, flooding her boiler room. On 23 January she sailed toAlexandria, Egypt for temporary repairs, arriving at noon on 25 January, and then sailed toVirginia for permanent repairs at the saferNorfolk Navy Yard . One propeller shaft had to be cut away and her speed fell to 23 knots.She returned to service in May 1942, and was immediately dispatched to the
Indian Ocean . Later in May, "Illustrious" and her sister ship "Indomitable" participated inOperation Ironclad , covering the landings at Diego Suarez in Vichy French controlledMadagascar . In 1943, she returned to theMediterranean , for operations withForce H , based at the British territory ofGibraltar . She was used to help cover the Allied landings in Sicily in September 1943.In 1944, she joined the
Eastern Fleet , where she participated in raids on the Indonesian islands ofSabang on 22 July 1944 andPalembang on 24 January and 29 January 1945. After this, "Illustrious" put into Fremantle,Australia , for rest and re-supply. She then sailed with the rest of theBritish Pacific Fleet on 4 March to Manus, and from there sailed on 19 March toUlithi . Later in 1945, as part of the British Pacific Fleet, designatedTask Force 57 byAdmiral Nimitz she supported the landings atOkinawa with her sister ships HMS "Indomitable", HMS "Indefatigable" and HMS "Victorious", where she won her lastBattle Honour . While in thePacific , she was hit by twokamikaze aircraftFact|date=August 2008. Her armouredflight deck absorbed the brunt of some hits and enabled to stay in action. A kamikaze near miss on 6 April, however, caused serious structural damage below the waterline and, after operations againstFormosa , she was replaced by HMS "Formidable" on 14th April and sailed to the Philippines for inspection. The damage was more serious than suspected and she returned to Sydney and thence to Rosyth for repairs and refit, which were completed in June 1946. [cite web
last = Mason
first = Geoffrey B
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = HMS "Illustrious"
work = Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2
publisher =
date = 2003
url = http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-04CV-Illustrious.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 4 August 2008 ]After the war she was given the role of training and trials ship, with a speed limited to 22 knots due to accumulated wartime damage. She was refitted and modernized from January through August 1948, decommissioned at the end of 1954, sold on 3 November 1956, and finally scrapped, after a successful career, at Faslane. "Formidable" and "Indomitable" were also scrapped in the 1950s; "Victorious", the last of the class, was scrapped in 1969.
Battle honours
*Taranto 1940
*Mediterranean 1940-41
*Malta Convoys 1941
*Diego Suarez 1942
*Salerno 1943
*Sabang 1944
*Palembang 1945
*Okinawa 1945References
*V.B. Blackman, ed., "Jane's Fighting Ships 1950-51" (Sampson Low, Marston, & Company, London, 1951)
*Roger Chesneau, "Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present; An Illustrated Encyclopedia" (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1984)
*Correlli Barnett, "Engage the Enemy More Closely" (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1991) ISBN 0-393-02918-2
*Richard Collier, "War in the Desert" (Caxton Publishing Group, London, 2000) ISBN 0783557213External links
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/aircraft_carriers/hms_illustrious_87_richard_griffin_rn_story.htm A crewman's story aboard the "Illustrious", 1940-1941]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/aircraft_carriers/hms_illustrious_87.htm Maritimequest HMS Illustrious photo gallery]
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