British Aircraft Carrier HMS Indefatigable 10

British Aircraft Carrier HMS Indefatigable R10

HMS Indefatigable was one of two Implacable-class aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Completed in 1944, her aircraft made several attacks that year against the German battleship Tirpitz, inflicting only light damage; they also raided targets in Norway. The ship was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) at the end of the year and attacked Japanese-controlled oil refineries in Sumatra in January 1945 before joining the American forces in March as they prepared to invade the island of Okinawa in Operation Iceberg. Indefatigable and the BPF joined the Americans in attacking the Japanese Home Islands in July and August.

Indefatigable became the first British carrier to be hit by a kamikaze on on 1 April 1945 when a Japanese plane evaded the CAP and struck the base of the carrier’s island. The bomb it carried did not detonate and this limited casualties to 21 men killed and 27 wounded. Damage to the ship was minimal and the flight deck was back in operation thirty minutes later.

Following the end of hostilities she visited ports in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

After returning to the UK in early 1946, Indefatigable was modified for transport duties, and ferried troops and civilians for the rest of the year before she was reduced to reserve. She was recommissioned in 1950 as a training ship for service with the Home Fleet Training Squadron, participating in exercises and making several port visits overseas. The Board of Admiralty decided that she was redundant in early 1954 and decommissioned her later that year. Indefatigable was sold for scrap the following year.