HMS Formidable
From Our Contribution
 Imperial War Museum Photo A11660 | |
 An Albacore taxiing forward and another about to land. IWM image A11639 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMS Formidable |
| Owner | British Navy |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff, Belfast |
| Yard number | 1007 |
| Launched | 17 August 1939 |
| In service | 24 November 1940 |
| Out of service | 12 August 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Naval Aircraft Carrier |
| Tonnage | 23,000 tons |
| Length | 740 ft (225.6 m) |
| Beam | 95 ft 9 in (29.2 m) |
| Depth | 95 ft 9 in (29.2 m) |
| Speed | 30.5 knots (56.49 km/h) |
| Capacity | crew 1,299 |
Remarks
HMS Formidable was an Illustrious-class aircraft carrier ordered for the Royal Navy before the Second World War. She operated at various times with the Home, Mediterranean, Eastern, and British Pacific Fleets. On 4 May 1945 she was hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa killing 8 men, and wounding another 55. Another kamikaze struck the ship on 9 May 1945, killing one and injuring four. Aircraft carried varied from 36 – 54.
Formidable arrived in Sydney on 24 Aug 1945, 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 Manila on 30 September, where she loaded over 1,000 Australian former prisoners of war on 4 October and unloaded them at Circular Quay in Sydney on 21 October. She then ferried British personnel across the globe through 1946. She was placed in reserve the following year and sold for scrap in January 1953.
Honours
- Matapan 1941
- Crete 1941
- North Africa 1942–43
- Sicily 1943
- Salerno 1943
- Okinawa 1945
- Japan 1945