 Formidable underway, 3 August 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Formidable |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff,Belfast,Northern Ireland |
| Yard number | 1007 |
| Laid down | 17 June 1937 |
| Launched | 17 August 1939 |
| Sponsored by | LadyKingsley Wood |
| Commissioned | 24 November 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 12 August 1947 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 67[1] |
| Nickname(s) | The Ship That Launched Herself |
| Honours & awards |
|
| Fate | Sold forscrap, January 1953 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Illustrious-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement | 23,000long tons (23,369 t) (standard) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 95 ft 9 in (29.2 m) |
| Draught | 28 ft 10 in (8.8 m) (deep load) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts; 3 gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 30.5knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph) |
| Range | 10,700 nmi (19,800 km; 12,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 1,299 |
| Sensors & processing systems | 1 ×Type 79early-warning radar |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
| Aircraft carried | 36–54 |
| Aviation facilities | 1catapult |
HMSFormidable was anIllustrious-classaircraft carrier ordered for theRoyal Navy before the Second World War. After being completed in late 1940, she was briefly assigned to theHome Fleet before being transferred to theMediterranean Fleet as a replacement for her crippledsister shipIllustrious.Formidable's aircraft played a key role in theBattle of Cape Matapan in early 1941, and they subsequently provided cover for Allied ships and attackedAxis forces until their carrier was badly damaged by Germandive bombers in May.
Assigned to theEastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean in early 1942,Formidable coveredthe invasion of Diego Suarez inVichyMadagascar in mid-1942 against the possibility of asortie by the Japanese into the Indian Ocean.Formidable returned home for a brief refit before participating inOperation Torch, the invasion ofFrench North Africa in November. She remained in the Mediterranean and covered theinvasions of Sicily andmainland Italy in 1943 before beginning a lengthy refit.
Formidable made several attacks on theGerman battleship Tirpitz in Norway in mid-1944 as part of the Home Fleet. She was subsequently assigned to theBritish Pacific Fleet (BPF) in 1945 where she played a supporting role during theBattle of Okinawa and later attacked targets in theJapanese Home Islands. The ship was used to repatriate liberated Alliedprisoners of war and soldiers after theJapanese surrender and then ferried British personnel across the globe through 1946. She was placed inreserve the following year and sold forscrap in 1953.
The Royal Navy's1936 Naval Programme authorised the construction of two aircraft carriers.Admiral SirReginald Henderson,Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, was determined not to simply modify the previous unarmouredArk Royal design. He believed that carriers could not be successfully defended by their own aircraft without some form of early-warning system. Lacking that, there was nothing to prevent land-based aircraft from attacking them, especially in confined waters like theNorth andMediterranean Seas. This meant that the ship had to be capable of remaining in action after sustaining damage, and that her fragile aircraft had to be protected entirely from damage. The only way to do this was to completely armour thehangar in which the aircraft would shelter, but putting that much weight so high in the ship allowed only a single-storey hangar due to stability concerns. This halved the aircraft capacity of theIllustrious class compared with the older unarmoured carriers, trading offensive potential for defensive survivability.[3]
Formidable had a length of 740 feet (225.6 m)overall and 710 feet (216.4 m) at thewaterline. Herbeam was 95 feet 9 inches (29.2 m) at the waterline and she had adraught of 28 feet 10 inches (8.8 m) atdeep load. She displaced 23,000long tons (23,369 t) atstandard load as completed.[4] Her complement was approximately 1,299 men upon completion in 1940.[5] The ship had threeParsons gearedsteam turbines, each driving one shaft using steam supplied by sixAdmiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 111,000 shp (83,000 kW), enough to give a maximum speed of 30.5knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph).[6] Onsea trials,Formidable reached 30.6 knots (56.7 km/h; 35.2 mph) with 112,018 shp (83,532 kW).[7] She carried a maximum of 4,850 long tons (4,930 t) offuel oil, which gave her a range of 10,700nautical miles (19,800 km; 12,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4]
The 753-foot (229.5 m) armouredflight deck had a usable length of 670 feet (204.2 m), due to prominent "round-downs"[Note 1] at bow and stern to reduce air turbulence, and a maximum width of 95 feet (29 m). A single hydraulicaircraft catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck. The ship was equipped with two unarmouredlifts on the centreline, each of which measured 45 by 22 feet (13.7 by 6.7 m). The hangar was 456 feet (139 m) long and had a maximum width of 62 feet (18.9 m). It had a height of 16 feet (4.9 m), which allowed storage ofLend-LeaseVought F4U Corsair fighters once their wingtips were clipped. The ship could accommodate up to 54 aircraft rather than the intended 36 after the adoption of "outriggers" on the flight deck during the war and the flattening of the "round-downs" that increased the usable length of the flight deck to 740 feet (225.6 m) to facilitate the use of a permanent deck park.[Note 2] The additional crewmen, maintenance personnel and facilities needed to support the extra aircraft severely crowded the ship. She was provided with 50,650 imperial gallons (230,300 L; 60,830 US gal) of petrol.[9]
The ship's main armament consisted of sixteenquick-firing (QF)4.5-inch (114 mm)dual-purpose guns in eight twin-gun turrets that were mounted insponsons on the side of the hull. 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.[10] The gun had a maximum range of 20,760 yards (18,980 m).[11] Her light anti-aircraft defences consisted of six octuple mounts forQF two-pounder 2 pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) ("pom-pom")anti-aircraft (AA) guns, two each fore and aft of theisland and two in sponsons on the port side of the hull.[10] The two-pounder gun had a maximum range of 6,800 yards (6,200 m).[12]
While under repair in late 1941,Formidable's light AA armament was augmented by the addition of 10Oerlikon 20-millimetre (0.8 in)autocannon in single mounts[13] with a maximum range of 4,800 yards (4,400 m).[14] By the time of her last recorded refit in March 1944, she had exchanged one octuple "pom-pom" mount for a quadruple mount and had a total of 20 twin and 14 single 20 mm mounts.[13] Before seeing combat against the Japanese, some were replaced by40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns as the 20 mm shell was unlikely to destroy akamikaze before it hit the ship. The Bofors gun had a maximum range of 10,750 yards (9,830 m).[15] By the war's end the ship had all six of her original octuple "pom-pom" mounts, five single 40 mm power-operated mounts, seven single 40 mm "Boffin" mounts and 11 twin and 12 single 20 mm mounts.[13]
Formidable was completed with aType 79early-warning radar. The specifics of the additional radars fitted during the war are not readily available, but she probably had, by the end of the war, aType 277 surface-search/height-finding radar on top of thebridge and aType 293 target-indicator radar on theforemast. She also probably mountedType 279 andType 281B early-warning radars, based on those fitted aboard hersister shipVictorious. In addition,Type 282 andType 285 gunnery radars were mounted on thefire-control directors.[16]
TheIllustrious-class ships had a flight deck protected by 3 inches (76 mm) of armour, and the internal sides and ends of the hangars were 4.5 inches thick. The hangar deck itself was 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick and extended the full width of the ship to meet the top of the 4.5-inch waterlinearmour belt. The belt was closed by 2.5-inch transversebulkheads fore and aft. Theunderwater defence system was a layered system of liquid- and air-filled compartments backed by a 1.5-inch (38 mm) splinter bulkhead.[17]
Formidable was ordered as part of the 1937 Naval Programme fromHarland & Wolff.[18] She waslaid down at theirBelfast shipyard on 17 June 1937 asyard number 1007 andlaunched on 17 August 1939.[19] Just before the launch ceremony was to begin, the wooden cradle supporting the ship collapsed, and the ship slid down theslipway while workmen were still underneath and around the ship. One spectator was killed by flying debris and at least 20 others were injured;Formidable, however, was not damaged. Because of the incident, the carrier was referred to as "The Ship That Launched Herself".[20][21] She was commissioned on 24 November 1940.[19]
After a very briefwork up, theFairey Albacoretorpedo bombers of826 Naval Air Squadron and829 Squadron and theFairey Fulmar fighters of803 Squadron flew aboard and she joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow on 12 December. Her stay there was brief as she, escorted by theheavy cruisersDorsetshire andNorfolk, sailed on 18 December to protect convoys and search for theGerman cruiser Admiral Scheer, which had recently attackedConvoy HX 84 in the North Atlantic. They failed to find thecommerce raider and escorted a convoy toCape Town, South Africa, arriving on 22 January 1941. Four days later the ship was ordered north to replace her sisterIllustrious with the Mediterranean Fleet after she had been badly damaged by Germandive bombers. En route, she took the opportunity to attack Italian forces inItalian Somaliland andEritrea.[22] They sank the 5,723-gross register ton (GRT) steamerMoncalieri on 12 February for the loss of two Albacores.[23]
Several weeks later, she made a cautious transit of the recentlyminedSuez Canal and reachedAlexandria on 10 March.[24] 829 Squadron was issuedFairey Swordfish torpedo bombers to replace its losses.[25] On 20 MarchFormidable escorted a convoy toMalta and flew off five aircraft forCrete while returning to Alexandria. On the morning of 27 March, major elements of the Italian Fleet were spotted en route to the sea lanes between Egypt and Greece and the carrier sailed later that afternoon with a force of three battleships, cruisers and destroyers under the command of AdmiralSir Andrew Cunningham. Reinforced by three Fulmars from806 Squadron, her air group numbered 13 Fulmars, 10 Albacores and 4 Swordfish. An Albacore spotted the leading Italian ships the next morning and six Albacores with torpedoes attackedItalian battleship Vittorio Veneto. Two GermanJunkers Ju 88 bombers intervened, but they were driven off by the escorting pair of Fulmars. The attack failed and another strike force of three Albacores and two Swordfish was prepared. Shortly after launching them at 12:22,Formidable was attacked by a pair of torpedo-carryingSavoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers to no effect. Around 14:50, one Albacore torpedoed the Italian battleship, although the other aircraft missed. The hit briefly knocked out her engines and caused heavy flooding. Another air strike of six Albacores and two Swordfish was launched at 17:30 to finish off the battleship, but they mistook theItalian cruiser Pola for it in the fading light.[26]
The cruiser was struck by a torpedo from one of the aircraft, possibly from one of two Swordfish from815 Squadron fromMaleme, Crete, that joinedFormidable's aircraft before the attack. The mistake allowed the battleship to reach port. One Albacore was shot down byVittorio Veneto and two others were forced toditch after running out of fuel.[26] Cunningham continued the pursuit of the Italian ships into the night. Unaware of the British pursuit, a squadron of cruisers and destroyers was ordered to return and helpPola. This squadron includedPola'ssister ships,Zara andFiume whileVittorio Veneto and the other ships continued to Taranto.[27] In the darkness and without radar the Italian cruisers were surprised and the three battleships plusFormidable were able to close to 3,800 yd (3,500 m) and open fire. After three minutes,Fiume andZara had been destroyed.Formidable which was third in line behindWarspite andValiant and ahead ofBarham received the order to open fire with her 4.5-inch guns although the order was almost immediately countermanded and she was ordered out of line to starboard as soon as it was realised such a valuable ship was so close to the Italian ships. Some ofFormidable's 4.5-inch guns fired a salvo in what was one of the few occasions in the Second World War in which an aircraft carrier fired her main armament at enemy warships.[28]
On 18 April the Mediterranean Fleet sortied to bombard the primary Axis supply port ofTripoli and was attacked by a pair of SM.79 torpedo bombers fromRhodes. The torpedo-bombers were intercepted by a pair of Fulmars that damaged one bomber badly enough that itcrash-landed back at its base, although one Fulmar was also forced to crash-land aboardFormidable. The next day Fulmars from 806 Squadron shot down oneCANT Z.1007 bomber flying fromCyrenica toSicily and a pair ofJunkers Ju 52 transports flying fuel to North Africa. On the morning of 21 April, the carrier's aircraft dropped flares to illuminate the port so it could be shelled by threebattleships and alight cruiser. On the way home, a pair of Fulmars shot down aDornier Do 24flying boat.[29]
During theEvacuation of Greece,Formidable provided air cover for Convoy GA 15 on 29 April. A Fulmar from 803 Squadron was forced to ditch on 2 May before the carrier returned to Alexandria the next day. She put to sea on 6 May to provide air cover for the convoys involved inOperation Tiger. On the morning of 8 May, a pair of Fulmars claimed to have shot down a pair of Z.1007s searching for the fleet; one Fulmar failed to return. Later that afternoon, the fighters shot down four GermanHeinkel He 111 bombers at the cost of one Fulmar forced to crash-land. Two Albacores and a Fulmar crashed due to non-combat causes during the day. The next day a pair of Fulmars from 806 Squadron badly damaged a Ju 88 reconnaissance bomber that crash-landed at its base in Sicily. As the fleet and the Tiger convoy approached Alexandria on 11 May, a pair of Fulmars attacked a formation of Ju 88s, damaging one bomber; one Fulmar and another Ju 88 were seen falling together towards the sea. Many of the Fulmars had been rendered unserviceable during the operation andFormidable was unable to provide air cover until they were repaired.[30]
On 26 May the fleet sortied for a dawn raid on the base atScarpanto the next day; the carrier mustered 12 Fulmars and 15 Albacores and Swordfish. Six Albacores and four Fulmars attacked the airbase, destroying one Ju 88 and damaging two others. Also damaged were an ItalianSavoia-Marchetti SM.81 transport and sixFiat CR.42 Falco fighters. Later that morning, as the fleet was returning to Egypt, the Fulmars shot down a He 111 and two Ju 88s for the loss of one Fulmar forced to land aboard the carrier and another forced to ditch. At 13:10 a formation ofJunkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers was spotted from II./StG 2; based in Cyrenaica; they were searching for supply ships bound forTobruk and not involved in theBattle of Crete. They hitFormidable with two 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs and blew the bow off her escortingdestroyerNubian. The bombs killed 12 men and wounded 10; one bomb passed completely through the outer part of the starboard forward flight deck and detonated before it hit the water, riddling the side of the hull with holes. A near miss also blew a large hole in the ship's starboard side underwater. The pair of Fulmars onCombat Air Patrol (CAP) shot down one of the Stukas after it had dropped its bomb and were able to land aboard shortly afterwards but take-offs could not be made until 18:00.[31]
Formidable arrived at Alexandria the following day and disembarked her air group. She received emergency repairs before departing on 24 July for permanent repairs atNorfolk Navy Yard in theUnited States, 829 Squadron flying aboard with its Albacores to provide anti-submarine patrols during the voyage. She arrived on 25 August, and the repairs were completed in early December. After several days of sea trials, she sailed for Britain in company withIllustrious on 12 December. During the night of 15/16 December,Illustrious collided withFormidable's stern, but neither ship was seriously damaged. She was repaired at Belfast from 21 December 1941 to 3 February 1942[32] and embarked the Albacores of818 Squadron and820 Squadron and theGrumman Martlet fighters of888 Squadron.[33]
Formidable sailed on 17 February to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, escorting a convoy toFreetown,Sierra Leone, en route. One of her passengers on the voyage wasAdmiral SirJames Somerville, about to take up his appointment asCommander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet. The ship arrived atColombo,Ceylon, on 24 March and Somerville hoisted his flag aboard the battleshipWarspite that same day. Two days afterFormidable's arrival, the Japanese First Air Fleet departed from Celebes (Sulawesi) in theDutch East Indies to attack British forces in the Indian Ocean. Somerville was notified that the Japanese were planning to attack Ceylon on 28 March and ordered his fleet to assemble southeast of the island on 30 March to intercept them. Force A, consisting ofFormidable, her sisterIndomitable andWarspite, was ordered toAddu Atoll to refuel on 3 April after the Japanese failed to attack as the British expected. ARoyal Air ForceConsolidated Catalina flying boat spotted them within range of Ceylon just three and a half hours after Force A arrived at the atoll on 4 April. Too far away to intercept them before they could attack Ceylon, Force A departed about eleven hours after arrival on a course that Somerville thought would allow him to attack by night while avoiding detection during the day.[34] One ofIndomitable's Albacores spotted some of the Japanese carriers just before nightfall on 5 April, after the Japaneseattacked Colombo, but further searches failed to locate them[35] until 8 April when the Japanese were one day away from their intended target,Trincomalee, and still too far away to intercept. Force A refuelled at Addu Atoll on 9 April and was then ordered toBombay to calm fears of a Japanese attack on India's west coast.[36]
Somerville was still uneasy about the possibility of another attack on Ceylon and ordered Force A toKilindini Harbour,Mombasa,Kenya, on 24 April. En route (5–7 May), Force A helped protect the invasion of VichyDiego Suarez, Madagascar, against a Japanese attack.Formidable arrived at Kilindini on 10 May and remained there until she departed on 29 May bound for Colombo. The ship alternated between Colombo and Kilindini for the rest of her time with the Eastern Fleet. During this time she took part inOperation Stab, a decoy invasion of theAndaman Islands, withIllustrious.Rear-AdmiralDenis Boyd hoisted his flag over the ship on 24 August and she departed six days later to return home for a refit. She arrived at Rosyth on 21 September and her refit lasted until 18 October. She sailed that day for Scapa Flow[37] where she embarked 24 Martlets of 888 and893 Squadrons, 12 Albacores of 820 Squadron and 6Supermarine Seafire fighters of885 Squadron in preparation for the invasion ofFrench North Africa.[38]
_1942.jpg)
Assigned to Force H for Operation Torch,Formidable sailed on 30 October and provided cover in the Western Mediterranean against any attempt to interfere with the landings by Axis forces in Italy or France. Her Martlets shot down a pair of Ju 88s on 6 November[39] and her Albacores laid asmoke screen in support of the landings at Algiers on 8 November.[40] Two of her Albacores torpedoed and sank theGerman submarine U-331 on 17 November, after it had surrendered to aSupermarine Walrusamphibian which then departed the scene. She remained off the Algerian coast providing air support for Allied forces for the rest of the month, and one of her Seafires shot down a Ju 88 on 28 November.[39]
Formidable was the only carrier in the Mediterranean after Torch until she was joined byIndomitable in mid-June 1943 as part of the buildup for theAllied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). The two carriers were east of the island in a position to intercept any attempt by the Italian fleet to attack the landings. After Sicily was secured,Formidable became the first carrier to enterGrand Harbour, Malta, sinceIllustrious in January 1941. The latter ship joinedFormidable as a replacement for the torpedoedIndomitable in Force H for the landings atSalerno (Operation Avalanche) on 9 September. As in Husky, their role was to protect the invasion fleet from interference by the Italian Navy.[Note 3] The fighters aboard the smaller carriers protecting the forces ashore suffered heavy attrition during the early days of the operation andFormidable transferred 2 Seafires and 15 Martlets toUnicorn as replacements for their losses.[42]
In October, the carrier was transferred to the Home Fleet and departed Gibraltar forGreenock on 13 October together with the battleshipKing George V. Six days later she was in Scapa Flow to begin patrols to Iceland in company with the battleshipsHowe andAnson and the American carrierRanger that lasted for the next three weeks. On 13 November she flew off her air group and sailed for Belfast to begin a lengthy refit, arriving on 19 November. The refit was completed in early June and the ship spent the rest of the month working up. The 18 Corsairs of1841 Squadron and the 24Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers of827 Squadron and830 Squadrons flew aboard on 29 June andFormidable sailed for Scapa Flow to train with the carriersFurious andIndefatigable before launching an attack on theTirpitz inKaafjord on 17 July (Operation Mascot). Her Corsairs escorted the strike aircraft from the other carriers to the target; one was shot down by Germanflak. A smoke screen prevented most of the Barracudas from seeing their target and they failed to hit theTirpitz.[43] Upon the ship's return to Scapa Flow, 827 and 830 Squadrons were replaced by 826 and 828 Squadrons, also flying Barracudas.[44]
Formidable's air group was reinforced by a dozen Corsairs of1842 Squadron on 7 August[45] in preparation for further attacks onTirpitz (Operation Goodwood).[46] The two Corsair squadrons were assigned toNo. 6 Naval Fighter Wing aboard the carrier on 14 August.[47] The first attack was on the morning of 22 August whenFormidable launched 24 Corsairs and 12 Barracudas against the German battleship and nearby targets, all of which returned. A smoke screen again protected theTirpitz and no damage was inflicted. Another attack scheduled for the afternoon had to be cancelled because of low clouds. A further attack could not be mounted until 24 August because of bad weather. The carrier contributed 23 Corsairs and 16 Barracudas, and 3 of the fighters were shot down over the target.[48] TheTirpitz was lightly damaged by two bomb hits during this attack. A final attack was made five days later, again without effect.[49]
The carrier arrived at Scapa Flow on 2 September[46] where both Barracuda squadrons disembarked.[50] She later sailed to Gibraltar, arriving on 21 September to begin a refit that, among other things, augmented her anti-aircraft outfit in preparation for operations in the Pacific. The Corsairs of No. 6 Naval Fighter Wing flew aboard on 1 January 1945, as did 18Grumman TBF Avengers of848 Squadron.[51] After several weeks of working up,Formidable departed Gibraltar on 14 January to join theBritish Pacific Fleet (BPF). She arrived inSydney, the BPF's main base, on 10 March after several stops en route to refuel and embark stores and ammunition. On 20 March, Admiral SirBruce Fraser, commander of the BPF, inspected the ship and her crew.[46]
By this timeFormidable's air group had a strength of 36 Corsairs and 18 Avengers.[52] She arrived inSan Pedro Bay in the Philippines on 4 April to await the return of the BPF from their efforts to neutralise airfields on theSakishima Islands, between Okinawa andFormosa, as part of the preparations for the landings on Okinawa.Formidable was called forward six days later to join the1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron (1st ACS) of the BPF on operations[53] as a replacement forIllustrious, which was in poor mechanical shape. She arrived on 14 April and contributed aircraft when the attacks recommenced two days later. The commander of 1842 Squadron was killed on the first day of operations whilestrafing buildings at Nobara airfield. After refuelling and two more days' attacks, the BPF sailed on 20 April for San Pedro Bay to replenish its ships for further operations.[54]
The fleet returned to waters off Okinawa on 4 May and renewed its attacks on the airfields on the Sakishima Islands.Vice-AdmiralBernard Rawlings, second in command of the BPF, and his staff had determined that bombardment of Japanese gun positions by the heavy guns of battleships and cruisers might be a more effective method of destroying them than aerial attack. They detachedKing George V andHowe, as well as five cruisers, that morning to bombard Nobara and Hirara airfields ofMiyako Island while fighters flew a protective CAP over them and spotted the fall of their shells. The loss of the most effective anti-aircraft ships was more important than anticipated and the Japanese were able to take advantage of the opportunity. The carrier had just launched two Corsairs for bombardment-spotting duties and the deck park of eleven Avengers was being moved forward to allow aircraft to land when an undetectedMitsubishi A6M Zero fighter attacked at 11:31. The Zero first strafed the flight deck before any ofFormidable's guns could open fire and then turned sharply to dive into the forward flight deck despite the ship's hard turn to starboard. The fighter released a bomb shortly before it would have impacted the deck and was destroyed by the bomb's blast, although the remnants of the Zero struckFormidable.[55]
_dented_flight_deck_1945.jpg)
The detonation of the bomb put a large dent in the flight deck, around 24 feet (7.3 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m) and 2 feet (0.61 m) deep, with a 2-square-foot (0.19 m2) hole in the centre and much spalling from the underside.[56][57] It killed 2 officers and 6 ratings, wounding 55 other crewmen.[53] A fragment from the flight-deck armour penetrated the hangar-deck armour and passed through the centre-boiler uptakes, the centre-boiler room itself, and an oil tank before it came to rest in theinner bottom. The fragment severed the steam pipes in the centre-boiler room and forced its evacuation, cutting the ship's speed to 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). The blast on the flight deck blew the Avenger closest to it over the side and set another one on fire. Shrapnel from the blast peppered the island, causing the bulk of the casualties, and severed many electrical cables, including those for most of the ship's radars.[58] The fires on the flight deck and in the hangar were extinguished by 11:55, and seven Avengers and a Corsair which were damaged beyond repair were dumped over the side.[53] The bomb struck at the intersection of three armour plates and dented the plates over an area 20 by 24 feet (6.1 by 7.3 m). The dent was filled by wood and concrete and covered by thin steel plates tack-welded to the deck so that she was able to operate aircraft by 17:00 and steam at a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). Thirteen of her Corsairs had been airborne at the time of the attack and they operated from the other carriers for a time. The damage to the boiler room and its steam pipes was repaired so that the centre boilers could be reconnected to the engines at 02:00 the next day.[59]
_on_fire_1945.jpg)
The bombardment significantly reduced Japanese aerial activity on 5 May, although several ofFormidable's Corsairs, temporarily operating from her sisterVictorious, shot down a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,100 m). That evening the fleet withdrew to refuel and was back on station on 8 May although heavy rains forced the cancellation of the planned air strikes. On 9 May, another kamikaze pilot, Yoshinari Kurose, penetrated the CAP at low altitude and crashed his plane intoFormidable's flight deck and deck park at 17:05. The impact did little damage to the ship, but caused an explosion and large fire that destroyed 18 of her aircraft. One crewman, Petty Officer George Hinkins, was killed and four were wounded.[60][61][62] The carrier was able to resume operations fifty minutes later, but with only four Avengers and eleven Corsairs still serviceable. Rawlings decided to immediately withdraw to giveVictorious andFormidable more time to make repairs and to replenish their depleted air groups. He also revised the deployment of the BPF to counter the new low-level tactics of the Japanese by stationing the battleships and cruisers closer to the carriers, keeping the carriers closer together, and positioningradar-picket cruisers in the most likely directions of attack.[63]
The BPF returned to action on 12 May and no Japanese aircraft were seen or detected that day or the next. One ofFormidable's Avengers made a successful landing aboardIndomitable with only one landing gear leg extended and noflaps on 13 May. The BPF continued its routine of two days of operations alternating with one or two days to replenish its ships for the next several days with minimal interference by the Japanese. On the morning of 18 May, armourers were loading ammunition into aircraft when a Corsair's guns were accidentally fired into an Avenger, which caught fire.[62] The overheadfire sprinklers were immediately turned on, but the fire could not be extinguished for nearly an hour, not least because the electric motors driving the steel-fire curtains had been damaged in the first kamikaze attack and could only be repaired by a dockyard. Twenty-one Corsairs and seven Avengers were either damaged or destroyed in the incident. Rawlings decided to detachFormidable early to give her extra time for repairs in Sydney and she was ordered to depart on 22 May.[64]
The ship arrived on 31 May and was taken into the Captain Cook Dock at theGarden Island Dockyard for repairs, with the dock's labour force being augmented with workers from theCockatoo Island Dockyard. Two of the three armour plates damaged on 4 May were repaired, but the third had to be replaced by two 1.5-inch high-quality steel plates as there were not any armour plates of the required thickness available in Australia. Repairs were also made to the ship's machinery, boilers and electrical systems. The island was enlarged with an admiral's staff cabin and a radar workshop. Rear-Admiral SirPhilip Vian, commander of the 1st ACS, transferred his flag toFormidable when her repairs were complete.[65]
Together withVictorious andKing George V,Formidable departed Sydney on 28 June, bound for the BPF's advance base atManus Island, in theAdmiralty Islands. Her air group now consisted of 36 Corsairs, 12 Avengers and 6 Grumman F6F Hellcats of1844 Squadron. Two of the latter aircraft werephotoreconnaissance versions.[66] No. 6 Naval Fighter Wing was absorbed into the2nd Carrier Air Group that controlled all of the aircraft on the carrier.[67] The ships arrived on 4 July, refuelled, and departed two days later to join the AmericanThird Fleet, already operating off the Japanese Home Islands. The BPF rendezvoused with the Americans on 16 July and commenced operations the next morning.Formidable flew off 28 Corsairs bound north of Tokyo on 17 July, but some of them were unable to locate their targets because of bad weather. Twenty-four Corsairs attacked targets near Tokyo the next day, before more bad weather halted flying operations until 24–25 July, when the BPF's aircraft attacked targets nearOsaka and theInland Sea, crippling theescort carrierKaiyo.[68] After replenishing, airstrikes resumed on 28 and 30 July, sinking the escortOkinawa nearMaizuru. A combination of bad weather, refuelling requirements and theatomic bombing of Hiroshima delayed the resumption of air operations until 9 August.[69]
During the morning,Formidable flew off afighter sweep of a dozen Corsairs followed an hour later by Avengers that attackedMatsushima Air Field. A second fighter sweep, led by LieutenantRobert Hampton Gray,RCNVR, senior pilot of 1841 Squadron, was diverted to attack Japanese warships located inOnagawa Wan,Miyagi Prefecture, with his eight Corsairs. Gray spotted twoescort ships and led his aircraft into the attack. Intense flak set his engine on fire, but Gray continued his attack,skip bombing a 500-pound (230 kg) bomb into theEtorofu-class escortAmakusa. The ship sank within five minutes with the loss of 157 lives. Gray's aircraft rolled inverted shortly after releasing the bomb and crashed into the sea; he did not survive. Gray was later posthumously awarded theVictoria Cross (VC).[70]
The attacks were repeated the next day, sinking two warships and numerous small merchantmen and destroying numerous railway locomotives and parked aircraft. The BPF had been scheduled to withdraw after 10 August to prepare forOperation Olympic, the invasion ofKyushu scheduled for November, and the bulk of the force, includingFormidable, departed for Manus on 12 August. TheJapanese surrender a few days later ended the war.[71]
Formidable arrived at Sydney on 24 August, and had her hangar refitted to accommodate Allied ex-prisoners of war and soldiers for repatriation. Having left her air group behind to maximise the numbers of passengers she could carry, the ship arrived atManila on 30 September, where she loaded over 1,000 Australian former prisoners of war on 4 October and unloaded them atCircular Quay in Sydney on 21 October. She departed three days later, bound forKaravia Bay,New Britain, where she loaded 1,254 men of theIndian Army and continued on toSingapore where she loaded Indian ex-PoWs before delivering them to Bombay. ThereFormidable loaded an Indian Armyinfantrybattalion for transport toBatavia in the Dutch East Indies to maintain law and order until Dutch colonial troops could take over. The ship then loaded elements of the7th Australian Division and their equipment atTarakan Island,Borneo, and picked up more Australians atMorotai; she arrived at Sydney on 6 December.[72]
Vice-Admiral Vian addressed the ship's crew on 27 December before she departed the following day with 800 naval personnel embarked for passage home. She arrived atPortsmouth on 5 February 1946. The dockyard there fitted her with more permanent accommodations in the hangar for more trooping duties and she loaded 480 personnel before departing for Sydney on 2 March.Formidable arrived there a month later and loaded 1,336 naval personnel as well as someWrens andVAD nurses. She sailed on 12 April, stopping in Colombo to refuel and drop off 576 naval personnel, before arriving inDevonport on 9 May. She made her next voyage to Bombay and Colombo between 15 June and 25 July. The ship loaded 114 officers, 958 ratings and 11 VAD nurses in Singapore in August and another 319 ratings in Trincomalee before stopping in Malta to load 41 men of theMerchant Navy.Formidable made her last trooping voyage between Portsmouth and Singapore, delivering 1,000Royal Marine Commandos to the latter, between 3 December and 3 February 1947.[73]
In early March 1947,Formidable steamed north to Rosyth for a brief refit before being reduced to reserve. She was paid off on 12 August and a later survey revealed that her wartime damage and poor material shape meant the ship was beyond economical repair at a time when money was very tight. She was towed toSpithead in mid-1949 and then to Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in November 1952.Formidable was sold for scrap in January 1953 and towed toInverkeithing where she was broken up.[74]
| Squadron | Aircraft operated | Embarked (from – to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 803 | Fairey Fulmar | 27 November 1940 – 12 May 1941 25 April 1942 – 24 August 1942 | To HMSIllustrious[75] |
| 806 | Fairey Fulmar | 4 March – 27 May 1942[76] | |
| 810 | Fairey Swordfish | 13–21 December 1941[77] | |
| 818 | Fairey Albacore | 4 February – 20 April 1942 | Disbanded[78] |
| 820 | Fairey Albacore | 3 February 1942 – 11 November 1943 | Disbanded[79] |
| 826 | Fairey Albacore Fairey Swordfish Fairey Barracuda | 26 November 1940 – 27 May 1941 15 August – 2 September 1944[80] | |
| 827 | Fairey Barracuda | 11–19 July 1944 | Returned to HMSFurious[81] |
| 828 | Fairey Barracuda | 18 August – 2 September 1944 | Returned to HMSImplacable[25] |
| 829 | Fairey Albacore | 15 November 1940 – 23 August 1941 10–21 December 1941[82] | |
| 830 | Fairey Barracuda | 9–19 July 1944 | Returned to HMSFurious[83] |
| 841 | Fairey Barracuda | 8–14 August 1944 | Transferred to HMSImplacable[84] |
| 848 | Grumman TBF Avenger | 16 September 1944 – 24 August 1945[85] | |
| 853 | Grumman F4F Wildcat | 14–24 June 1944[86] | |
| 881 | Grumman F4F Wildcat | 10–12 November 1943[87] | |
| 885 | Supermarine Seafire I/II | 28 October 1942 – 18 October 1943[88] | |
| 888 | Grumman F4F Wildcat | 24 August 1942 – 13 November 1943[89] | |
| 893 | Grumman F4F Wildcat | 21 October 1942 – 13 November 1943 | Disbanded[90] |
| 1840 | Grumman F6F Hellcat | 31 July – 5 August 1944 | Transferred to HMSIndefatigable[91] |
| 1841 | Vought F4U Corsair | 26 June 1944 – 23 August 1945[92] | |
| 1842 | Vought F4U Corsair | 28 June 1945 – ? | 2 of these werephotoreconnaissance versions[93] |
