Dates or Periods not Known
(Indian
Ocean Campaign Summary) |
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HMS
Indomitable -
"Abominable" |
HMS
Victorious in a
fast turn |
1944 or 45 - Dido-class
cruiser. (Either
Euryalus
or Argonaut
as both had 4 twin 5.25in
and 3 quad 2-pounders by the
end of the war, but not
Phoebe
or
Cleopatra
which had quad 40mm Bofors
instead of the 2-pounders
- thanks to Tim Stoneman,
with more comments following)
|
Indomitable, looking aft from
islands -
twin 4.5's firing |
"the other half" - see next
image |
Aircraft
(Hellcat) missed
arrester wires, hit gun turret
and broke in half, throwing
the tail unit "aft". The pilot
broke his wrist but was
otherwise un hurt when jumped
off the wing
|
A "pasty mess" |
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Indomitable,
(Hellcat) Fight
Squadron 1839 - Maurice
Whiteing possibly below prop
early
1945
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January
1945
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Joined
Task Force 63.
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4th
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Deployed with HMS
INDEFATIGABLE
and HMS
VICTORIOUS,
H M Cruisers SUFFOLK,
CEYLON,
ARGONAUT
and
BLACK
PRINCE
screened by HM
Destroyers
KEMPENFELT,
WHELP,
GRENVILLE,
WAGER,
URANIA,
UNDAUNTED,
UNDINE and
URSA for air attacks
on oil refineries at
Pangkalang
Brandan,
Sumatra
(Operation LENTIL).
(Note:
The
unsuitability of
SEAFIRE aircraft for
sustained carrier
operations was
mentioned in the
report on this
operation).
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16th
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Sailed
from
Trincomalee
with TF63 for
offensive sweep in
Indian
Ocean
prior to transfer of
British Pacific
Fleet for service in
Pacific area.
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24th
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With
HMS
ILLUSTRIOUS,
HMS
INDEFATIGABLE
and HMS
VICTORIOUS,
carried out air
attacks on the oil
refinery at Pladjoe,
Sumatra.
Cover was provided
by HM Battleship
KING
GEORGE V,
HMS
ARGONAUT,
HMS EURYALUS
and HMS
BLACK
PRINCE
screened by Fleet
Destroyers.
(Operation
MERIDIAN
ONE)
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29th
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With
same
aircraft carriers
launched raids on Soengi
Gerong
oil refineries and
airfields at Lembak
and Tanglangbetoetoe
(Operation MERIDIAN
TWO).
(Note:
These
attacks were marred
by various problems.
All seven KAMIKAZE
aircraft which
attacked Fleet in
retaliation were
destroyed but 16 RN
aircraft were lost
in action and
another 14 by deck
landing accidents. 9
pilots captured
after baling out
were executed by the
Japanese in August
1945. (Operation
MERIDIAN TWO).
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February
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4th
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Arrived
Fremantle
with British Pacific
Fleet.
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9th
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Arrived
at
Sydney to prepare for
operational service
as TF113 with US
Navy.
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Re-designated
as
part of Task Force
57.
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March
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17th
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Joined
Task
Force 57, BPF
element of US 5th
Fleet, at Manus
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23rd
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Sailed
from
Ulithi
to take part in
combined RN/USN
carrier operations
in support of US
landings on
Okinawa
until 7th April
(Operation ICEBERG).
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1945 - Avenger circles
Indomitable - Hellcats and
Avengers
ranged for take-off
|
Indomitable
flight deck aft of island.
Aircraft "ranged" ready to
take off
with Firefly overhead,
Operation Palembang, January
1945
|
A casualty from raid
on Pankalan Brandon oil
refineries,
Sumatra 4 Jan 1945 - Barracuda?
|
Avengers over Pankalan
Brandon, Sumatra,
bombs right on target
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Possibly January 1945 -
Hellcat fighter |
Possibly January 1945 -
"done it again" - more work
(Hellcat -
presumably "more work" as a
result of her hitting the
barrier)
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| Possibly
1945 |
Oiler from BPF Fleet Train
Note:
"During 1945, British and
Dominion destroyers
serving in the Pacific
assumed temporary pendant
numbers with flag D
superior to bring them
into near conformity with
their American
counterparts ...."
"British and Empire
Warships of the Second
World War" by H T Lenton
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Oiling at sea - destroyer
R.4?
(Could
be
Undine
(R42) or
Tenacious
(R45). The only other War
Emergency destroyers whose
pennant numbers began with R4
were
Wrangler
(R48), which had different
fire control and
Volage
(R41) which had a quad
2-pounder and not the
Hazemeyer twin Bofors shown.
Of the two, I suspect she
is HMS Undine as I think
I can see three funnel bands,
thus 25th Destroyer Flotilla -
'U' class, rather than the two
bands worn by the 24th DF -
'T' class - thanks to Tim).
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Destroyer D.46
(HMS
Tenacious
wearing her BPF
pennant number D46 - thanks
to Tim)
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Destroyer D.17
(HMAS
Quadrant
wearing her BPF
pennant number D17 - thanks
to Tim)
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Mail coming aboard from
destroyer G.39 (I
believe this is HMS
Obdurate. It is
certainly one of the four
minelaying "O" class as
the
mine-rails are
visible and G39 was her
pennant number - thanks
to Tim).
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"Day of days", destroyer
steams alongside to transfer
mail at sea during rest
days, Formosa 1945. (She
may possibly be HMS
Wager
again, based on the
configuration and the
shape of the stain on the
ship's side below the
bridge (oil stain) which
looks very similar to one
on the photo in Part 1 -
thanks to Tim).
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Another mail boat - River-class
frigate Parret, possibly May
1945 |
Parret's Hedgehog A/S mortar
forward |
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