ILLUSTRIOUS HMS (87) 1940

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shipstamps
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:12 pm

ILLUSTRIOUS HMS (87) 1940

Post by shipstamps » Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:44 pm

Built as an aircraft carrier under yard No 732 by Vicker-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness for the Royal Navy.
27 April 1937 laid down.
05 April 1939 launched as the HMS ILLUSTRIOUS (87) one of the Illustrious class, she was the fourth ship which carried the name ILLUSTRIOUS in the Royal Navy.
Displacement 23.000 tons standard, 28.661 tons full load. Dim. 229.7 x 29.2 x 7.3m. (draught).
Powered by 3 Parsons geared turbines, 110.000 shp., three shafts, speed 30.5 knots.
Range by a speed of 14 knots, 11.000 miles.
Armament 8 – 4.5 inch QF., 6 – 2pdr. AA and 8 – 20mm AA guns.
Aircraft carried 15 Fulmar and 18 Swordfish, when built.
Crew 1400 including aircrew.
25 May 1940 commissioned.

After commissioned ordered to the Mediterranean to provide convoy cover, anti shipping strikes, and raid positions in North Africa.
31 August 1940 her aircraft used against an airstrike of the airfields at Maritza on Rhodes, Greece.
11 November 1940 her aircraft used in an attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, her aircraft attacked the Italian fleet at night in which one Italian battleship was sunk and two damaged.

10 November 1941 she was attacked east of the Sicily escorting a convoy in which she was hit by 8 bombs in which she got severe damage.
After arrival in Malta and under repair she was again bombed in which her boiler room got flooded.
23 January 1942 she sailed for Alexandria, Egypt for temporary repair, after this repair she sailed for Norfolk USA for repair by the Norfolk Navy Yard. During the repair she lost one propeller shaft which was severe damaged, her speed was reduced to 23 knots thereafter.

May 1942 returned to service, and was ordered to the Indian Ocean, in May she participated in Operation Ironclad which covered the landings in Diego Suarez, Madagascar.
1943 Returned to the Mediterranean for operations with Force H based at Gibraltar.
September 1943 covered the landing of the Allies in Sicily.

1944 A unit of the Eastern Fleet where she participated in raids on the island Sabang of the Dutch East India on 22 July 1944 and Palembang on 24 January and 29 January 1945.
After this operations she sailed for Fremantle, Australia for supply.
04 March 1945 sailed for Manus, from where she sailed on 19 March to Ulithi.
Later that year used by Admiral Nimitz in Task Force 57 in which she supported the landings at Okinawa.
During her stay in the Pacific was she hit by two kamikaze and on 6 April she had a near miss of an other kamikaze, which caused serious structural damage below the waterline. After operations against Formosa was she replaced by HMS FORMIDABLE on 14 April, where after she set course to the Philippines for a survey During the survey it was found that the damage was more serious than expected and she sailed to Sydney and then to Rosyth, U.K. for repairs
June 1946 the repairs were completed.

After the war used as a training and trials ship, her speed was limited to 22 knots.
Between January till August 1948 refitted and modernized.
01 December 1954 decommissioned.
03 November 1956 arrived at Faslane, where she was scrapped.

Gambia 1995 5d sg2034, scott1631e.
Marshall Islands 1990 25c sg341, scott267.

Source: Wikipedia and other web-sites. The Encyclopedia of Warships.

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Attachments
Illustrious HMS 1940 (Medium).jpg
SG2034
SG2034
SG341
SG341

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: ILLUSTRIOUS HMS (87) 1940

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:22 pm

The following I received from Mr. Peter Crichton after a request if he could identify the aircraft carrier depict on this sheet for Operation Meridian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Meridian

All 4 carriers carried the Grumman Avenger in 1945 and each had a different Fleet Air Arm Squadron (FAAS) aboard.

HMS INDEFATIGABLE carried 820 FAAS whose aircraft were numbered from 370 to 389/S. I think the S would have been on the tail fin of the aircraft.

HMS VICTORIOUS carried 849 FAAS whose aircraft were numbered from P1A to P1X (Jan 45) and from 370 to 385/P (June 45)

HMS ILLUSTRIOUS carried 854 FAAS whose aircraft were numbered from Q4A to Q4Y (by December 1944).

HMS INDOMITABLE carried 857 FAAS whose aircraft were numbered from W7A (Nov 44) then W1A (Jan 45) and 370 – 386/W (by Aug 45). I have seen a photo of an Avenger from this squadron (probably taken in 1945) and it does not match the Avenger shown on the stamp.

By August 1945 the following Avenger carrying carriers were in the Pacific Fleet:-

HMS FORMIDABLE – 848 FAAS - had an X on tail fin
HMS IMPLACABLE – 827 FAAS – had a single letter identification.

However after researching the above I found an image identical to the stamp and the carrier is HMS ILLUSTRIOUS. Go to the following link:-
http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/aircr ... enger.html

Information from The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm by Ray Sturtivant & Theo Balance and published by Air-Britain.

Peter

Nauru 2009 $3 sg?, scott?
Montserrat 2009 $2.50 sg?, scott?
Attachments
tmp17D.jpg
tmp17A.jpg

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