HMS Hermes

HMS Hermes (95) of the Royal Navy of United Kingdom was the first ship in any navy to be designed and built as an aircraft carrier, although the Imperial Japanese Navy's Hōshō was the first to be commissioned. The design of Hermes preceded and influenced that of the Hōshō, and she was launched before Hōshō was laid down, but was commissioned more than six months later than Hōshō.

Hermes was laid down by Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth and Company at High Walker on the River Tyne in January 1918 and was launched on 11 September 1919. She was not commissioned until 1923.

Despite her size, Hermes was only able to carry 20 aircraft. Like other carriers of the time, Hermes, as built, was fitted with longitudinal wires, but these were changed to transverse arrester wires in the early 1930s.

During World War II she served briefly with the Home Fleet before being assigned to the southern Atlantic from October 1939. She worked with the French navy based at Dakar until the Vichy government came to power, following that her aircraft took part in a strike against the French vessels at Dakar. In July 1940 she collided with a merchant vessel and was repaired at Simonstown, South Africa. Following repairs she continued patrols but this time in the Indian Ocean as part of the Eastern Fleet.

During the Indian Ocean raid, Hermes was in harbour at Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), undergoing repairs. Advance warning of a Japanese air raid allowed her to leave port, but as she returned following the raid on 9 April 1942, she was spotted off Batticaloa by a Japanese reconnaissance plane. Lacking planes of her own, she was defenceless when she was attacked by 70 Japanese bombers. Hit 40 times, Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men. Her escorts – the destroyer HMAS Vampire and the corvette Hollyhock – and two tankers were also sunk. 590 survivors of the attack were picked up by the hospital ship Vita and taken to Colombo. Some survivors were taken to Kandy where they spent 10 days recuperating at the Queens Hotel.

(Wikipedia)

Squadrons and Aircraft

In mid-1930s she was reduced to operating 15 aircraft and by 1939 this had dropped to only 12.

FAA squadrons embarked	Dates	Aircraft type
814	Sept 1939-Feb 1942	Swordfish II
710 dt	May 1940	Walrus I

Carrier name	HMS Hermes
Class	Hermes Class
Type	Fleet Aircraft Carrier
Ships in Class	Hermes
Launched	Built by Armstrong Whitworth. Laid down 15 January 1918. Launched 11 September 1919. Commissioned July 1923.
Tonnage	Displacement: 11,085 tons standard ; 13,208 tons full load
Engines	Propulsion: Two Parsons Steam Turbines (6 Yarrow small-tube boilers, 2 shafts, Parsons geared turbines), 40,000 shp.
Speed in Knots	Speed: 25 knots
Armament	Guns: 6 x 5.5 inch ; 3 x 4 inch AA; 2 quad 0.5 inch AA (added 1934). 6 x 1 x 20mm AA
Crew Complement	700 Officers & Ratings including Air Group
Range	6000 miles @ 18 knots
Length (ft/inches)	Dimensions: 548 pp, 600 oa x 70.25 x 21.5 feet
Beam (ft/inches)
Draught (ft/inches)
Flight Deck length (ft/inches)	570
Flight Deck width (ft/inches)	90
Armour	3" side (belt) 11"-2" side (ends) 1" upper deck 1" main deck
Number of aircraft carried	Aircraft: Up to 20 planes including Martlet (F4F) Fighters Swordfish T.B's
Fate of carrier	Sunk 9 April 1942 by Japanese aircraft from the carriers Soryu, Hiryu and Akagi.
Notes	The first purpose built aircraft carrier in the world.