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Hermes

Country United Kingdom Ship Class Hermes-class Light Carrier Hull Number 95 Builder Name W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth and Company, High Walker, England, United Kingdom Laid Down 15 Jan 1918 Launched 11 Sep 1919 Commissioned 1 Jul 1923 Sunk 9 Apr 1942 Displacement 10,850 tons standard; 13,208 tons full Length 598 feet Beam 70 feet Draft 19 feet Machinery Two Parsons Steam Turbines, six Yarrow small-tube boilers, two shafts Power Output 40,000 SHP Speed 25 knots Range 6000 nm at 18 knots Crew 664 Armament 6x140mm guns, 3x102mm AA guns Armor 2-3in belt, 1in upper deck, 1in main deck, 1in hangar deck Aircraft 15 Swordfish torpedo bombers Flight Deck Length 570 ft

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHMS Hermes was the first ship in the world to be designed and built as a dedicated aircraft carrier, although the Japanese carrier Hosho was the first in the world to be commissioned into service. Due to the inexperience with carriers, which type was extremely new at the time of her building, Hermes suffered from some problems such as a small hangar (capacity of only 20 aircraft) and instability at high seas caused by the large starboard island. In late 1934, she received a catapult and a second lift, which further reduced her air complement to 15.

ww2dbaseWhen Hermes entered service in 1924, her first task was to conduct exercises with Fairey IIID reconnaissance biplanes on the Firth of Forth in Scotland, United Kingdom. In Nov 1924, she was transferred from the Atlantic Fleet to the Mediterranean Fleet, and she would remain with the Mediterranean Fleet until May 1925. In Aug 1925, she arrived at Hong Kong and joined the China Station and generally remained in the Far East for many years, typically spending summers at Weihai, a leased territory, in Shandong Province, China and winters in Hong Kong. She toured the Dutch East Indies in early 1937 before returning to the United Kingdom in May. She subsequently became a training ship in 1938. She was given a brief refit in early Aug 1939. Around this time some upgrade plans were made for her anti-aircraft weaponry and her fuel bunkerage capacity, but none were actually implemented.

ww2dbaseWhen the European War began, Hermes was a part of the Home Fleet and, along with HMS Courageous, operated off the southwestern approaches to search for and attack German submarines, surface raiders, and blockade runners. Her complement at the time included 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers of the 814 Naval Air Squadron. She was transferred to the South Atlantic in Oct 1939, where she would work with the French fleet at Dakar, French West Africa until France surrendered and the Vichy-French government came to power. Hermes then launched strikes against French ships, including launching Swordfish torpedo bombers against the French battleship Richelieu on 8 Jul 1940. During that engagement, one of the torpedoes that her aircraft launched scored a hit on the battleship. In Jul 1940, she collided with the merchant vessel Corfu, and was sent to Simon's Town, South Africa for repairs. After the completion of the repairs, she was transferred to Ceylon. She launched patrols in the Indian Ocean against German and Italian shipping and supported the British and Commonwealth actions in Italian East Africa and in Iraq. After a period of refitting in South Africa, she was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet, which had recently lost battlecruiser HMS Repulse and battleship HMS Prince of Wales to Japanese air power.

ww2dbaseOn 9 Apr 1942, Chuichi Nagumo's Japanese carrier fleet approached Ceylon for a strike at Trincomalee, where Hermes was undergoing repairs. Having received advanced warning, the British carrier departed from the port without any aircraft on board, avoiding the Japanese strike. She was nevertheless spotted by a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft from battleship Haruna southeast of Batticaloa, Ceylon. Hermes and her escort attempted to turn back to Trincomalee where fighters could be scrambled to protect her, but they did not make it far. She was attacked by a wave of 85 Japanese D3A carrier dive bombers escorted by 9 A6M Zero fighters. At least 32 of the dive bombers attacked, hitting her 40 times. She sank, killing 307, including Captain Richard F. J. Onslow. Hermes' escort, Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire, was also sunk. The Japanese lost four D3A dive bombers in the attack. 12 British Fulmar II fighters of No. 273 Squadron RAF, 803 Naval Air Squadron, and 806 Naval Air Squadron arrived only after the sinking; two of them were shot down by the Japanese. Most of the 590 survivors were picked up by hospital ship Vita and delivered to Colombo, Ceylon.

ww2dbaseSources:

Dan van der Vat, The Pacific Campaign

Fleet Air Arm Archive

Wikipedia



Last Major Revision: Jan 2015

Light Carrier Hermes (95) Interactive Map

Hermes Operational Timeline

Photographs

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