H.M.S. Hermes (1919)

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H.M.S. Hermes (1919)
Pendant Number: 95 (Jun 1920)[1]
Builder: Armstrong, Whitworth & Company[2]
Laid down: 15 Jan, 1918[3]
Launched: 11 Sep, 1919[4]
Commissioned: 19 Feb, 1924[5]
Sunk: 9 Apr, 1942[6]
Fate: Air Attack

H.M.S. Hermes was an aircraft carrier completed for the Royal Navy in 1924, being the first ship designed from the outset to operate aircraft in a proper manner – being able to recover aircraft while at sea.

Service

Hermes was commissioned at Devonport on 19 February, 1924 under the command of Captain The Hon. Arthur Stopford. By 1925, she was in the Mediterranean.[7]

She was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 3 June 1925. By mid-1927 she had a Headquarters Flight under Wing Commander, R.A.F. B. L. Huskisson and Fleet Air Arm Flight Nos. 403 and 440.[8]

The carrier was re-commissioned at Chatham on 15 December, 1927 for service on the China Station. By early 1929, her air complement was a Headquarters Flight under Wing Commander, R.A.F. A.H.S. Steele-Perkins and Fleet Air Arm Flight Nos. 403, 440 and 442.[9]

She was re-commissioned at the Nore on 3 October, 1930 for service on the China Station. By mid-1931, her air complement was a Headquarters Flight under Squadron Leader, R.A.F. A. W. F. Glenny and Fleet Air Arm Flight Nos. 403 and 440.[10]

In early 1933, she had just Flight Nos. 403 and 440 and a total of seven pilots embarked along with her Headquarters flight.[11]

She paid off into Dockyard Control at Devonport on 22 September, 1933.[12]

Reduced to Reserve at Devonport on 11 June, 1937.[13]

The out-classed carrier succumbed to Japanese air attack off Ceylon in World War II on 9 April, 1942.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 53.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 71.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 71.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 71.
  5. The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 245.
  6. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 71.
  7. The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 245.
  8. The Navy List. (July, 1927). p. 245.
  9. The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 245.
  10. The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 245.
  11. The Navy List. (January, 1933). pp. 245-6.
  12. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 247.
  13. The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 248.
  14. The Navy List. (July, 1924). p. 245.
  15. Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/120. f. 65.
  16. Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/120. f. 65.
  17. The Navy List. (July, 1927). p. 245.
  18. Eliot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/15. f. 15.
  19. Eliot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/15. f. 15.
  20. The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 245.
  21. The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 245.
  22. Mackinnon Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45/228. f. 232.
  23. Baxter Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/55/137. f. 137.
  24. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Monday, January 18, 1932, Issue 46033, p.21.
  25. The Navy List. (January, 1933). p. 245.
  26. Fraser Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/50/346. f. 344.
  27. Fraser Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/50/346. f. 344.
  28. The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 248.
  29. Donne Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/117/88. f. 88.
  30. Donne Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/117/88. f. 88.
  31. Donne Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/117/88. f. 88.
  32. Bowlby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/117/171. f. 171.
  33. Bowlby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/117/171. f. 171.
  34. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  35. Onslow Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/118/104. f. 104.
  36. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.

Bibliography

British Aviation Ships
Experimental Cruiser Platform, 1913
Hermes
Seaplane Carriers from Converted Steamers
Ark Royal Empress Riviera Engadine Campania Pegasus
Ben-my-Chree Vindex Manxman Nairana Vindictive
Seaplane Carriers from Seized German Steamers
Anne Raven II
Flat Decked Conversions
Argus Furious
Through-Deck Carriers
Eagle Hermes
Kite Balloon Ships
Canning City of Oxford Hector Manica Menelaus