HMS Formidable (67)

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	Lady Kingsley Wood
Commissioned	24 November 1940
Decommissioned	12 August 1947
Identification	Pennant number: 67[2]
Nickname(s)	The Ship That Launched Herself
Honours and awards	Matapan 1941 Crete 1941 North Africa 1942–43 Sicily 1943 Salerno 1943 Okinawa 1945 Japan 1945[1]
Fate	Sold for scrap, January 1953
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Illustrious-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	23,000 long tons (23,369 t) (standard)
Length	740 ft (225.6 m) (o/a) 710 ft (216.4 m) (waterline)
Beam	95 ft 9 in (29.2 m)
Draught	28 ft 10 in (8.8 m) ( deep load )
Installed power	111,000  kW ) 6 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 geared steam turbines
Speed	30.5 knots (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 and processing systems	1 × Type 79 early-warning radar
Armament	8 × twin DP guns 6 × octuple AA guns
Armour	Waterline belt: 4.5 in (114 mm) Flight deck: 3 in (76 mm) Hangar sides and ends: 4.5 in (114 mm) Bulkheads: 2.5 in (64 mm)
Aircraft carried	36–54
Aviation facilities	1 catapult

HMS Formidable was an Illustrious-class aircraft carrier ordered for the Royal Navy before the Second World War. After being completed in late 1940, she was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet as a replacement for her crippled sister ship Illustrious. Formidable's aircraft played a key role in the Battle of Cape Matapan in early 1941, and they subsequently provided cover for Allied ships and attacked Axis forces until their carrier was badly damaged by German dive bombers in May.

Assigned to the

The Royal Navy's

The 753-foot (229.5 m) armoured flight 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 (29.0 m). A single hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted on the forward part of the flight deck. The ship was equipped with two unarmoured lifts on the centreline, each of which measured 45 by 22 feet (13.7 by 6.7 m). The hangar was 456 feet (139.0 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 of Lend-Lease Vought 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]

Armament, electronics and protection

The ship's main armament consisted of sixteen

The Illustrious-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 (114 mm) 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 waterline armour belt. The belt was closed by 2.5-inch transverse bulkheads fore and aft. The underwater defence system was a layered system of liquid- and air-filled compartments backed by a 1.5-inch (38 mm) splinter bulkhead.^[17]

Construction and service

Formidable was ordered as part of the 1937 Naval Programme from

Several weeks later, she made a cautious transit of the recently

The cruiser was struck by a torpedo from one of the aircraft, possibly from one of two Swordfish from 815 NAS from Maleme, Crete, that joined Formidable's aircraft before the attack. The mistake allowed the battleship to reach port. One Albacore was shot down by Vittorio Veneto and two others were forced to ditch after running out of fuel.^[27] 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 help Pola. This squadron included Pola's sister ships, Zara and Fiume while Vittorio Veneto and the other ships continued to Taranto.^[28] In the darkness and without radar the Italian cruisers were surprised and the three battleships plus Formidable were able to close to 3,800 yd (3,500 m) and open fire. After three minutes, Fiume and Zara had been destroyed. Formidable which was third in line behind Warspite and Valiant and ahead of Barham 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 of Formidable'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.^[29]

On 18 April the Mediterranean Fleet sortied to bombard the primary Axis supply port of

During the

Formidable sailed on 17 February to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, escorting a convoy to

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^[40] and her Albacores laid a smoke screen in support of the landings at Algiers on 8 November.^[41] Two of her Albacores torpedoed and sank the German submarine U-331 on 17 November, after it had surrendered to a Supermarine Walrus amphibian 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.^[40]

Formidable was the only carrier in the Mediterranean after Torch until she was joined by Indomitable in mid-June 1943 as part of the buildup for the Allied 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 enter Grand Harbour, Malta, since Illustrious in January 1941. The latter ship joined Formidable as a replacement for the torpedoed Indomitable in Force H for the landings at Salerno (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 and Formidable transferred 2 Seafires and 15 Martlets to Unicorn as replacements for their losses.^[43]

Norwegian operations

In October, the carrier was transferred to the Home Fleet and departed Gibraltar for

Formidable's air group was reinforced by a dozen Corsairs of 1842 NAS on 7 August^[46] in preparation for further attacks on Tirpitz (Operation Goodwood).^[47] The two Corsair squadrons were assigned to No. 6 Naval Fighter Wing aboard the carrier on 14 August.^[48] The first attack was on the morning of 22 August when Formidable launched 24 Corsairs and 12 Barracudas against the German battleship and nearby targets, all of which returned. A smoke screen again protected the Tirpitz 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.^[49] The Tirpitz was lightly damaged by two bomb hits during this attack. A final attack was made five days later, again without effect.^[50]

The carrier arrived at Scapa Flow on 2 September^[47] where both Barracuda squadrons disembarked.^[51] 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 18 Grumman TBF Avengers of 848 NAS.^[52] After several weeks of working up, Formidable departed Gibraltar on 14 January to join the British Pacific Fleet (BPF). She arrived in Sydney, the BPF's main base, on 10 March after several stops en route to refuel and embark stores and ammunition. On 20 March, Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, commander of the BPF, inspected the ship and her crew.^[47]

Pacific operations

By this time Formidable's air group had a strength of 36 Corsairs and 18 Avengers.

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.^[59] 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.^[54] 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.^[60]

The bombardment significantly reduced Japanese aerial activity on 5 May, although several of Formidable's Corsairs, temporarily operating from her sister Victorious, 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 into Formidable'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.^[61][62][63] 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 give Victorious and Formidable 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 positioning radar picket cruisers in the most likely directions of attack.^[64]

The BPF returned to action on 12 May and no Japanese aircraft were seen or detected that day or the next. One of Formidable's Avengers made a successful landing aboard Indomitable with only one landing gear leg extended and no

flaps 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.^[63] The overhead fire 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 detach Formidable early to give her extra time for repairs in Sydney and she was ordered to depart on 22 May.^[65]

Operations off the Japanese coast

The ship arrived on 31 May and was taken into the Captain Cook Dock at the

Garden Island Dockyard for repairs, with the dock's labour force being augmented with workers from the Cockatoo 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 Sir Philip Vian, commander of the 1st ACS, transferred his flag to Formidable when her repairs were complete.^[66]

Together with Victorious and King George V, Formidable departed Sydney on 28 June, bound for the BPF's advance base at

photoreconnaissance versions.^[67] No. 6 Naval Fighter Wing was absorbed into the 2nd Carrier Air Group that controlled all of the aircraft on the carrier.^[68] The ships arrived on 4 July, refuelled, and departed two days later to join the American Third 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 near Osaka and the Inland Sea, crippling the escort carrier Kaiyo.^[69] After replenishing, airstrikes resumed on 28 and 30 July, sinking the escort Okinawa near Maizuru. A combination of bad weather, refuelling requirements and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima delayed the resumption of air operations until 9 August.^[70]

During the morning, Formidable flew off a

Etorofu-class escort Amakusa. 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 the Victoria Cross (VC).^[71]

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 for

Japanese surrender a few days later ended the war.^[72]

Post-war actions

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 at

Tarakan Island, Borneo, and picked up more Australians at Morotai; she arrived at Sydney on 6 December.^[73]

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 at

Royal Marine Commandos to the latter, between 3 December and 3 February 1947.^[74]

Decommissioning and disposal

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 to Spithead in mid-1949 and then to Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in November 1952. Formidable was sold for scrap in January 1953 and towed to Inverkeithing where she was broken up.^[75]

Squadrons embarked

Squadron	Aircraft operated	Embarked (from – to)	Notes
803	Fairey Fulmar	27 November 1940 – 12 May 1941 25 April 1942 – 24 August 1942	To HMS Illustrious[76]
806	Fairey Fulmar	4 March – 27 May 1942[77]
810	Fairey Swordfish	13–21 December 1941[78]
818	Fairey Albacore	4 February – 20 April 1942	Disbanded[79]
820	Fairey Albacore	3 February 1942 – 11 November 1943	Disbanded[80]
826	Fairey Albacore Fairey Swordfish Fairey Barracuda	26 November 1940 – 27 May 1941 15 August – 2 September 1944[81]
827	Fairey Barracuda	11–19 July 1944	Returned to HMS Furious[82]
828	Fairey Barracuda	18 August – 2 September 1944	Returned to HMS Implacable[25]
829	Fairey Albacore	15 November 1940 – 23 August 1941 10–21 December 1941[83]
830	Fairey Barracuda	9–19 July 1944	Returned to HMS Furious[84]
841	Fairey Barracuda	8–14 August 1944	Transferred to HMS Implacable[85]
848	Grumman TBF Avenger	16 September 1944 – 24 August 1945[86]
853	Grumman F4F Wildcat	14–24 June 1944[87]
881	Grumman F4F Wildcat	10–12 November 1943[88]
885	Supermarine Seafire I/II	28 October 1942 – 18 October 1943[89]
888	Grumman F4F Wildcat	24 August 1942 – 13 November 1943[90]
893	Grumman F4F Wildcat	21 October 1942 – 13 November 1943	Disbanded[91]
1840	Grumman F6F Hellcat	31 July – 5 August 1944	Transferred to HMS Indefatigable[92]
1841	Vought F4U Corsair	26 June 1944 – 23 August 1945[93]
1842	Vought F4U Corsair	28 June 1945 – ?	2 of these were photoreconnaissance versions[94]

Notes

1. ^ "Round-downs" were places at the ends of the flight deck that were faired into the hull; they were generally not usable by aircraft or equipment because they were not level.
2. ^ The precise dates for these changes are not known, but most probably occurred during her 1943–1944 refit, based on the changes made to her sister Illustrious.^[8]
3. ^ The Italians surrendered as the Allies landed and their fleet was interned at Malta.^[42]

Footnotes

1. ^ McCart, p. 68
2. ^ Lenton, p. 713
3. ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 83
4. ^ ^{a b} Friedman, p. 366
5. ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 89
6. ^ Campbell, N. J. M., p. 19
7. ^ Brown, David, p. 367
8. ^ Friedman, p. 147
9. ^ Brown, David, p. 44; Campbell, N. J. M., p. 19; Friedman, p. 134; Hobbs 2013, pp. 84–85, 90
10. ^ ^{a b} Hobbs 2013, p. 85
11. ^ Campbell, John, pp. 52, 55
12. ^ Campbell, John, p. 71
13. ^ ^{a b c} Friedman, p. 148
14. ^ Campbell, John, p. 75
15. ^ Campbell, John, p. 67
16. ^ Brown, David, p. 43; Campbell, John, pp. 15–16, 18–19; Friedman, pp. 145, 148
17. ^ Friedman, p. 137; Hobbs 2013, p. 83
18. ^ Friedman, p. 140
19. ^ ^{a b} Hobbs 2013, p. 97
20. ^ "Formidable – The Ship That Launched Herself" Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, "The Times of London", 8 August 2009, accessed 6 March 2011.
21. ^ "HMS Formidable Launches Herself" "British Pathe", 17 August 1939, accessed 20 April 2019.
22. ^ McCart, p. 50
23. ^ Shores, p. 112
24. ^ McCart, p. 51
25. ^ ^{a b} Sturtivant, p. 284
26. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 150–151, 153–162
27. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 150–151, 153–162
28. ^ Greene & Massignani, pp. 152–156
29. ^ Ballantyne, pp. 123–125
30. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 165–167
31. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 307, 314, 316–317, 319
32. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 377–379
33. ^ McCart, p. 54
34. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 238, 244, 371
35. ^ McCart, pp. 54–55
36. ^ Brown, J. D., p. 74
37. ^ McCart, p. 55
38. ^ McCart, pp. 55–56
39. ^ Brown, J. D., p. 62
40. ^ ^{a b} McCart, p. 56
41. ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 98
42. ^ Rohwer, p. 271
43. ^ Brown, J. D., pp. 65–67
44. ^ Brown, J. D., pp. 24, 28; McCart, pp. 57–58
45. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 275–276, 281, 284, 287, 290
46. ^ Sturtivant, p. 423
47. ^ ^{a b c} McCart, p. 58
48. ^ Sturtivant, p. 472
49. ^ Brown, J. D., p. 28; McCart, p. 58
50. ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 267–268
51. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 275–276, 284
52. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 331, 422–423
53. ^ Brown, J. D., p. 99
54. ^ ^{a b c} McCart, p. 60
55. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 145, 148, 150
56. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 175–176
57. ^ H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action 1952, p. 54.
58. ^ Hobbs 2017, p. 176, 178
59. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 176, 178
60. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 178, 180
61. ^ Rucki, Alexandra (13 September 2015). "British man meets brother of kamikaze pilot who killed his father in World War 2". mirror.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
62. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 181, 187
63. ^ ^{a b} McCart, p. 62
64. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 187–188
65. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 190–191, 194; McCart, p. 62
66. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 214–215
67. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 252–253
68. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 472, 474
69. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 261, 263, 266–267
70. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 273–280
71. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 280–285
72. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 286–288, 410
73. ^ Hobbs 2011, pp. 339–340
74. ^ McCart, pp. 67–68
75. ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 99; McCart, p. 68
76. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 172–174
77. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 184–186
78. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 198, 200
79. ^ Sturtivant, p. 238
80. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 247–248
81. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 275–276
82. ^ Sturtivant, p. 281
83. ^ Sturtivant, p. 287
84. ^ Sturtivant, p. 290
85. ^ Sturtivant, p. 309
86. ^ Sturtivant, p. 331
87. ^ Sturtivant, p. 345
88. ^ Sturtivant, p. 362
89. ^ Sturtivant, pp. 367–368
90. ^ Sturtivant, p. 372
91. ^ Sturtivant, p. 383
92. ^ Sturtivant, p. 420
93. ^ Sturtivant, p. 422
94. ^ Brown, J. D., p. 100

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Formidable (R67).

• Armoured aircraft carrier action and damage reports, 1940-1945
• Links to surviving members of the ship and "friends of" HMS/HMAC Formidable You may still contact survivors of the ship's complement and view photos of their annual reunions with hundreds of photos of the ship itself on this website.
• Huge gallery of photos of Formidable
• Found photos in Sydney. Geoffrey St Maur Mills archive scanned and posted. Includes rare scans of messages including "War Is Over" Formidable
• Maritimequest HMS Formidable photo gallery
• Fleet Air Arm entry for Formidable
• Link to HMS Formidable Facebook
• Roll of Honour