March 26, 1941 Norfolk, Virginia
Bump, bump. The tug boat nudged HMS Illustrious against the dock. The dry dock was closed as Idaho needed two more days to clear the dock as the refit was behind schedule because a new gang of ship fitters had managed to make a new and creative mistake on the port shaft. The carrier looked, at first glance, to be in good shape. She sat slightly deeper in the water than Constellation and her island structure looked odd when docked next to the Atlantic Fleet’s carriers. It was only when one could look down on her from above and see the rushed repair job on her deck. It was only when one looked closely at the repainted hull that they could see the scars that had been fixed in Durban. It was only when one smelled the air in the hangar deck that the miasma of burnt gasoline and incidental incineration of sailors in the temporary crematorium of the hangar deck that one could tell that she was damaged.
Her journey to Norfolk was slow. She had spent weeks in Durban fixing the worst of the damage that would have endangered her journey to America. She had waited two weeks in Freetown for an escort across the Atlantic. She had emptied herself of all useful supplies and large bodies of her men who had called her home as the Fleet needed all the trained men that they could find. She brought with her a third of the pilots who survived the journey back to Alexandria. They would be shipped around America for a few weeks. After their journey, they along with graduates the Empire Air Training Scheme and trained crews from the Fleet would congregate in Virginia and Maryland to rebuild Illustrious’ squadrons. The veterans were the core of the new squadrons that would be designated as successors to the squadrons that were still flying in the Nile Delta and defending Malta.
There was an active debate as to whether or not Illustrious would receive American torpedo planes or if Albacore torpedo bombers would be shipped across the ocean for the new squadrons. Once the pilots and engineers had further discussions with the US Navy and Grumman about the new Avenger torpedo bomber, that decision could be made. Illustrious would be equipped with only Grumman Marlets. The fleet had started to receive the folding wing fighters. There was a chance of being able to fit two reinforced squadrons on board. A carrier could survive a determine air raid if she had radar, good fighter interception direction, sufficient fighters and a bit of luck. She was living proof of what happened without enough luck, but the concept was proven. She would embody the hard and bloodily discovered truth once the shipwrights of Norfolk rebuilt her hangar, rebuilt armored her deck and updated her with all of the electronics that had become critical in only the short time that had passed since she had first joined the Fleet.
