HMS Invincible

[Crowbar Six]

Post WW1 was a troublesome time, the shortcomings of several capital ships had been exposed and new battleships and battle cruisers had to be designed & constructed plus now aircraft carriers plus the tactics to which they would be employed. The Royal Naval Air Service had been retained, but only just from the formation of the new RAF, another competitor for precious Treasury funding. The Royal Marines were now shouting above their place, no longer happy with manning ships guns, they were flying about in aeroplanes, driving armoured cars and playing soldiers in Russia, Somalia and other places.
The RNAS had managed to keep in their ranks Richard Bell Davis, Fredrick Bohill, Ray Collingshaw, William Dickson and Arthur Longmore among others and they with their former friends Oliver Locker Lampson MP, Murry Sueters MP, Winston Churchill and the Duke of Westminster were forming a powerful lobby group to persuade the Admiralty the future lay in naval aviation & not big gun capital ships.
The big breakthrough came with the Treaty in 1922. They Royal Navy could turn two of their new Invincible class battlecruisers into aircraft carriers. Since only two keels had actually been laid Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Enyncourt and his team had almost a clean sheet to begin with. Under Alan Payne the team designed a sleek 856' long ship. The Admiralty believed that no matter how big the defensive air group was enemy bombers would get through. Still clinging to the old two fleets rule gave the European threat of France & Italy so the battlefleet would be under threat from land based bombers so the all or nothing defences of the battle cruisers was continued. It was successfully argued that the air group was her primary weapon system so it was natural that the hanger should be protected as a magazine. The carriers had to not only survive a sustained heavy air attack, but had to be able to continue air operations after taking a large amount of battle damage.
A 527' long 12" belt protected the ships machinery with a further 4" plated double hull underneath. Bulk heads were 10" and a 6" sloped deck completed this enclosed space. Above this was a single 17'2" high 527' long and 71' wide hanger. Side protection was 4.5" and a 3.5" armoured deck was installed above. From the hanger to the stern & bows the deck was unarmoured, since it was considered that 500' was plenty of room to manoeuvre landing & launching aeroplanes.
Andrew Cunningham was given command of the Invincible with William Dickson command of the air group. Lumley Lyster got the Illustrious along with Arthur Longmore as air boss. The new First Sea Lord Leo Amery was so impressed with the design he actually wanted one for each of the battle squadrons.

Personally I would prefer the RN to lose one of the R class and keep Tiger instead.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

Summerville was happy with the progress being made by Admiral Wilbraham Ford’s TASK FORCE GULF. It was becoming fully operational and integrated fighting formation. Centred on Rear-Admiral Philip Vian’s 1st Carrier Squadron:-

HMS Vengeance - Captain Eccles - 60 attack aircraft
825 - 16x Gloster Ace, - 843 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt, 845 - 16x Gloster Ace, 850 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt.

HMS Excalibur - Captain Wootten - 56 attack aircraft
800 - 12x Gloster Thunderbolt, 803 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt, 820 - 16x Gloster Ace, 827 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt

HMS Victorious - Captain Hallett - 58 attack aircraft
801 - Squadron 14x Gloster Thunderbolt, 828 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt, 841 - 14x Gloster Thunderbolt, 849 - 16x Gloster Ace.

and Vice-Admiral Bernard Rawlings 1st Battle Squadron

HMS Anson, Captain Edward McCarthy, 9x 15” guns
HMS Beatty, Captain William Parry, 9x 15” guns
HMS King George V, Captain Thomas Halsey, 12x 15” guns

In addition the heavy cruiser HMS London, seven light cruisers HMS Alybank, HMS Centaur, HMS Ceres, HMS Champion, HMS Charybdis, HMS Danae and HMS Delhi plus twenty destroyers HMS Quilliam, HMS Queenborough, HMAS Quiberon, HMS Quickmatch, HMS Quality, HMS Pathfinder HrMs Van Galen, HMAS Norman, HMAS Nepal, HMAS Nizam, HMS Nubian, HMS Obdurate, HMS Penn, HMS Petard, HMS Racehorse, HMS Raider, HMS Rapid, HMS Redoubt, HMS Rocket and HMS Rotherham, formed the rest of Fords fleet.

Captain Grantham had been given a reprieve, HMS Invincible would become the flagship of the Anti-Submarine Force, operating 859 Squadron - 12x Swordfish, 862 Squadron - 12x Swordfish, 888 Squadron - 10x Swordfish and 891 Squadron - 10x Swordfish. Also onboard were 12 Airspeed Oxford ASV aircraft from 719 and 726 Squadrons to provide the eyes and ears of the Combined Allies Far East Fleet.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

With the commencement of the week beginning Monday September 13th Admiral Jock Whitworth and Force Lima was confirmed operational and ready to join Fords Force Gulf on deployment.

The force consisted of the following vessels:-

2nd Carrier Squadron - TGL - Rear-Admiral Rutland
HMS Britannia - Captain Denny - 63 combat aircraft
807 Squadron - 16x Grendel, 813 Squadron - 16x Grendel, 832 Squadron - 10x Sea Mosquito, 874 Squadron - 11x Swordfish, 884 Squadron - 10x Sea Mosquito
HMS Illustrious - Captain Talbot - 63 combat aircraft
806 Squadron - 11x Sea Mosquito, 810 Squadron - 10x Sea Mosquito, 817 Squadron - 16x Grendel, 871 Squadron - 11x Swordfish, 885 Squadron - 15x Grendel
HMS Formidable - Captain La Touché Bisse - 61 combat aircraft
830 Squadron - 14x Gallant, 863 Squadron - 10x Sea Mosquito, 864 Squadron - 10x Sea Mosquito, 878 Squadron - 12x Swordfish, 879 Squadron - 15x Gallant
HMS Fortitude - Captain Laing - 58 combat aircraft
815 Squadron - 16x Grendel, 831 Squadron - 14x Grendel, 854 Squadron - 16x Grendel, 861 Squadron - 12x Swordfish
12 Airspeed Oxford ASV aircraft from 732 and 736 Squadrons were deployed with 3 aircraft on each carrier.

2nd Battle Squadron - TGL - Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot
HMS Nelson, Captain Herbrand Russell, 9x 15” guns
HMS Rodney Captain James Rivett-Carnac, 9x 15” guns
HMS Duke of York Captain Robert Fitzroy, 12x 15” guns

4th Cruiser Squadron - Rear Admiral Brind
HMS Kenya, HMS Mauritius, HMS Newfoundland, HMS Nigeria, 9x 6” guns each.

Destroyer Flotilla -Lieutenant-Admiral Helfrich.
HNLMS Isaac Sweers, HNLMS Java, HNLMS Kortenaer, HMS Legion, HMS Maori, HNLMS Piet Hein, HMS Saumarez, HMS Sikh, HMS Verulam and HMS Venus.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the night of Sunday August 22nd, Marshall Zhukov and Deputy Chief of Staff Aleksei Antonov ordered the assault over the Dnieper. The assault was staged on a 200 mile wide front almost simultaneously. A total of 4,719,000 soviet troops supported by 8,200 tanks and assault guns, 152,000 artillery pieces and 15,000 aircraft staged a breakthrough and encircled the German defenders far in their rear, rendering the defence line unsupplied and next to useless. Partizans attacked the German supply routes preventing the arrival of reinforcements or to take away Soviet industrial facilities in the region. Stavka also paid high attention to the possible scorched earth activities of German forces with a view to preventing them by a rapid advance. Three weeks after the start of the offensive, and despite heavy losses on the Soviet side, it became clear that the Germans forces were on the verge of collapse. By the end of September, 20 Wehrmacht divisions were destroyed, while another 60 divisions were reduced to 50% of their establishment strength. Odessa was taken on October 3rd and Russian troops had advanced over 300 miles, reaching the Prut river near Lasi by the 14th.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the night of Monday August 23rd 1943, 1,250,000 men and 2,500 AFV’s crossed the Rhine at Boppard, St. Goar, Worms and south of the city of Mainz. Five airborne divisions, two British and three American, landed on the east of the Wesel at Dorsten, Hunxe, Schermbeck, Dulmen and Munster. The airborne operation was conducted by 3,250 transports, 2,680 gliders, and 889 escort fighters to deliver over 42,000 airborne infantry into the contested territory.

Two French and two US divisions crossed the Rhine at Wesel racing to join the airborne troops on the northern flank of the Ruhr.

Patton had taken Frankfurt by the 27th August and the American Third and Seventh Armies moved east into central and southern Germany flanking the southern flank of the Ruhr.

In the air the Allied forces were already bombing German airfields to reduce the capability for the Luftwaffe to interfere with the attack. The bombing started on the 21st, and by the following day the German air force were no longer able to put up much of a resistance against its Allied counterpart; 8,000 sorties were flown daily during the last week of August, with pilots reporting less than 100 enemy aircrafts sighted. By the end of 24th the German airfields were so damaged that the Luftwaffe practically ceased to exist on this front. On the same day, 150 bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force flew from Italy to bomb the German capital of Berlin nearly unopposed from the air, meanwhile RAF bombers attacked rail and oil targets in the Ruhr region.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

General Duch and his Polish divisions arrived at Graz on September 14th quickly besieging the city. Hubert Lanz’s XXII Mountain Corps, clashed with the Polish at Karlsdorf south of Graz for three days before being forced to withdraw into the hills east of the Rába river by the 26th.

On the night of October 19th the Polish crossed the Rába at Gleisdorf and Oberdorf. By morning 40,000 troops had crossed. Heavy fighting involving the German 1st Panzer Division and the 117th Jäger division failed to halt the advance. By the beginning of November the sound of gunfire was heard in Vienna.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

HMAS Ararat, HMAS Bowen, HMAS Deloraine along with HMS Invincible began ASW exercises with HMSubmarines Untiring and Stonehenge. Invincible’s Swordfish refined radar guided night attack procedures from the 2nd of October until the 9th when all the vessels returned to Fremantle for some well earned R&R.

On the 11th Lieutenant Verschoyle-Campbell took HMSubmarine Stonehenge off on her war patrol in the South China Sea.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

In August the American 6th Army including Lieutenant-General Morshead, and the Australian 1st Corps completed the conquest of Mindoro. It was only lightly occupied by the Japanese Army, and much of it was already under control by Filipino guerrillas, so it was quickly overrun. As Mindoro had good flying weather nearly all the time, U.S. Army engineers set about rapidly constructing a major air base at San Fabian.

The end of September and throughout October McArthur advanced from the Bataan towards the capital Manila. Battles continued throughout the island with more American troops landing on the island. Filipino and American resistance fighters also attacked Japanese positions and secured most of the strategically and economically important locations. Japanese forces retreated to the mountainous areas in the north and southeast of the island, where they planned to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

Tuesday, 14 September 1943, during the full moon 10 Japanese aircraft attack the Gutan locks, knocking them out of action. Simultaneously two German Ju87 Stukas bomb the hydro-electric power station at Gutan. One of the Stukas was downed by AAA along with three of the Japanese aircraft.
Upon receiving news of the attacks Admiral King’s office erupted into panic as reports of more aircraft sightings came in. The Americans were convinced that a Japanese carrier task force was now operating in the eastern Pacific. The question now was how did they get there without being spotted and how long and with what resources were required to hunt them down. Not only did the Japanese get there undetected, but unknown German units managed to get past the Royal Navy blockade, but were operating in the southern Caribbean. Over the next few days relationships between the Americans and the British became strained.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

Convoy FS 64 set sail from Fremantle on October 9th, consisting of the troopships Empress of Australia, Empress of Britain, Empress of Canada, and Empress of Scotland; the cargo ships SS Empire Bunting, SS Empire Defiance, SS Fort Buckingham, SS Fort Crevier, SS Fort Gloucester, SS Fort La Prairie, SS Fort McLeod and SS Fort Stikine; the oilers RFA Brown Ranger, RFA Cederdale, RFA Eaglesdale and RFA Green Ranger; the landing ships tank HMS Boxer and HMS Bruiser; the Naval stores ship Fort Wrangell, the repair ships HMS Berry Head, HMS Deer Sound, HMS Diligence, HMS Dullisk Cove and HMS Resource.
The escort was provided by Captain Grantham’s HMS Invincible with 719 RNAS, 726 RNA, 789 RNAS, 799 RNAS, 859 RNAS, 862 RNAS, 888 RNAS and 891 RNAS aircraft on board. 4 light cruisers - HMS Scylla, HMS Sheffield, HMS Sirius and HMS Spartan; 8 destroyers - HMS Icarus, HMS Ilex, HMS Impulsive, HMS Inconstant, HMS Intrepid, HMS Isis, HMS Ulstèr and HMS Urchin completed the escort group. The journey would take 10 days at an average speed of 12 knots, and was completed without incident.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the 4th of October HMS Surf commanded by Lt. D. Lambert, DSC, attacked the Japanese patrol vessels Choei Maru No.27 and CD 138 in the Formosa Strait in position 23*57’N 119*04’E.

At 15:30 Lambert sighted the enemy vessels. For an hour he stalked the surface vessels before firing two torpedoes at 5,000 yards. Five depth charges were dropped but the Surf managed to evade the attack. At 18:05 Lambert brought his boat up to periscope depth. Four enemy aircraft, one of which was a float plane were circling above, so Lambert took his vessel deep again. The game of ‘cat and mouse’ continued all evening. At 18:35 the warships made contact contact dropping two depth charges. Contact was lost and at 18:55 the submarine returned to periscope depth. Once again the Japanese attacked at 19:05 dropping another pair of depth charges.

The ships had by now travelled 16 miles towards the Pescadores Islands and at 23*36’N, 119*25’E when Lambert brought the submarine up to periscope depth. He couldn’t believe his luck as the two Japanese ships were sailing side by side. At 20:35 six forward tubes were fired at a range of 2,000 yards. 56 seconds later the first of four explosions erupted. The Choei Maru No.27 took 3 hits and disappeared almost immediately, while the CD 138 was hit by one Mk X torpedo, bringing her to a halt as she took on water. At 21:15 her Captain ordered ‘abandon ship’.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

Following its return from the Leyte operation USS Intrepid, USS Lexington, USS Bunker Hill and USS Hornet, plus their escorts, sailed from Pearl Harbour on September 20th, for the eastern Pacific to hunt down the Japanese carriers operating there.

There had been no confirmed enemy sightings since the attack on the Panama Canal. However Royal Marines discovered the remains of a Ju87 on the Isla de Tesoro of the Colombian coast on October 1st.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

October 10th Captain Ariizumi received reconnaissance reports from his next target. AA defences were minimal and over a dozen enemy ships were confirmed in port. The full moon was 3 days away. Seven aircraft would each carry a 1,760 lbs anti-ship bomb.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

Convoy FS65 left Fremantle on the 16th again bound for Singapore. Another Australian brigade being carried on the troopships Highland Brigade, Highland Chieftain, Highland Monarch, Highland Princess, Keren, Karanja, Llandaff Castle, Queen Emma, Prince Charles and the Winchester Castle. The Australian Cavalry Regiment also sailed with their armour on the LST’s HMS Misoa, HMS Tasajera, HMS Thruster. The escort group was entered on the New Zealand cruisers HMNZS Achilles, and HMNZS Gambia, along with the destroyers HNLMS Isaac Sweers, HNLMS Java, HNLMS Kortenaer and HNLMS Piet Hein.

 

[JudgeKing]

Following its return from the Leyte operation USS Intrepid, USS Lexington, USS Bunker Hill and USS Hornet, plus their escorts, sailed from Pearl Harbour on September 20th, for the eastern Pacific to hunt down the Japanese carriers operating there.

There had been no confirmed enemy sightings since the attack on the Panama Canal. However Royal Marines discovered the remains of a Ju87 on the Isla de Tesoro of the Colombian coast on October 1st.

I think you mean Western Pacific. The Eastern Pacific is where the west coasts of the US and Canada are.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

I think you mean Western Pacific. The Eastern Pacific is where the west coasts of the US and Canada are.

Defo Eastern Pacific. 😁
they are hunting down the Japanese units the attacked the Panama Canal In post 1,689.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the 11th of October an abalone diver operating from a small boat of the Isla Guadalupe spotted what he thought was a float plane flying low, towards the west of his position in the early sunlight. That evening on his return he reported the sighting to the Mexican authorities.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the evening of Wednesday October 19th at 17:45 the drone of seven aircraft sounded over the city of San Diego. AA observers identified the aircraft as a flight of US Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver returning from an exercise. At 18:00 precisely, one of the aircraft (actually a Seiran) crashed into the power plant on Kettner boulevard. The city’s electricity was completely knocked out and the resulting fire ball, fanned by strong winds, destroyed property as far as Cedar Street.

The destroyer USS Henley, now berthed beside the Bainbridge dry dock, was hit by a 1,760-pound bomb breaking her keel and splitting her in half. The LST 488, berthed at the pier astern of the Henley, was severely damaged as a 1,760 lbs bomb exploded on the pier. Blast and debris damage split the ships seams causing her to take on water. Four other large devices exploded in the bay causing no further damage or fatalities. The all clear was eventually sounded at 22:30.

At 02:30 Thursday morning as civilian and military first responders were battling the results of the earlier raid six Seiran kamikaze aircraft raced low towards the dockyards. Three aircraft were shot down harmlessly in the bay, but two more landing ships, LCT215 & LCT216, received direct hits as well as the destroyer USS Bristol.

All five of the US Navy vessels were classified as destroyed beyond repair following an inspection at 13:00 and recommended to be struck off the navy list.

 

[Kiwigun]

Bravo nice to see the Japanese hit the US mainland! Not often you see that.

 

[Lord Wyclif]

On the morning of Friday 20th the Presidents aircraft touched down in San Diego. Fires were still smouldering in the city. Admirals King and Nimitz along with Commodore Byron McCandless met with an angry Roosevelt. Intelligence reported the first wave had float planes indicating a cruiser force of at least a dozen vessels. The second wave had three aircraft of a new type shot down as well as three destroyed in the new tactic of a kamikaze strike. The intelligence community estimated one possibly two aircraft carriers along with escorts. The President enquired as to how a large Japanese fleet could attack and knock out the Panama Canal and hit the mainland American naval base at San Diego and still remain undetected. King retorted that every available aircraft were searching the Pacific looking for the Japanese fleet. USAAF, USMC and USN were patrolling the entire west coast at full squadron strength, and up to 200 miles off-shore. Four fleet carriers and several escort carriers were also employed in the search.