HMS Illustrious - Guide 048 (Human Voice)

Drach,  speaking of carriers, Congratulations on the formal commissioning of the HMS Prince of Wales on Dec. 10th.  It was a fitting tribute to the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales, to hold the new Prince of Wales commissioning on the 78th anniversary of the battleships sinking!

Scrapped in 1968 to phase out large carriers in the RN and here we are 50+ years later with 2 giant carriers with bugger all planes to put on them! we should never have got rid of the Harriers!.

My grandfather served on Formiddables second tour, (mostly in the Pacific) its great to hear her mentioned as there is not an awful lot of information about these operations.

At about 5.50 there seem to be some words skipped from the text - the robovoice didn't do that and mentioned Indomitable running aground instead of sailing to Singapore.

HMS Victorious. Is there a capital ship of WW2 with more significance? Add her long history and innovations that are still in use today and can there be a ship of more importance? If she had stayed American she would most likely be enshrined in some port today.

Great work as always Drach. While I have some... Other reasons (2 specific ones) why I like Illustrious, I was always interested in Naval History, (I suppose those waifu games had something to do with it), and learning about their history was always a pastime of mine especially when you're narrating. Keep up the work.

Don't we all hate those political decisions.

Very well done video as always! Any chance of doing a video on the Takao-class heavy cruisers for the IJN?

Was Indomitable not bombed on the pedestal convoy then?

Those kinds of “political” decisions can quickly lead to political and other oblivion. Wonderful looking and very effective ships. They took more bomb hits each than was required to turn the tide of the war at Midway in toto. Way to go, Brits!!

Really nice and sturdy ships. I really like their form of the bow.
But I wonder: why was the deck sloped DOWN at the front and not up or just straight?
I mean, sloping the aft down seems reasonable, to allow better landing. Was it supposed to land over the bow? Or is it a design for the weather in the north Atlantic?

Good names for Imperial Star Destroyers 😂

Great video! Carriers are by definition offensive weapons, so who is the UK planning to go to war with (or are they deterring everyone) buying their two new fancy carriers with F35s??

Thank you for mentioning the RN aircraft carrier raids against KMS Tirpitz while she was ( basically trapped ) in Kaafjord, Norway during 1944. Only one of which really worked out as planned ( Operation Tungsten ).

The illustrious was my grandfather's ship from 1942 till the end of the war and my father still has a photo album from that time. So it was great to see a video showing some of the history of that ship. Also have you done anything on the Battle of the River plate?

My eyes are not as good as they were 50 years ago. At first glance I thought this was about the HMS Hilarious.

Very good! I always enjoy your commentary.

Dear Sir: could you do a video on the US Navy Adams class destroyers please? Thanks

Lusty has such lovely soft landings.

Hey Drachinifel, loved the video! Do you have plans on doing videos for each ship of the class?

I thought the Art Royal was built for scouting operations in the North Sea with an armored flight deck and a small hanger with very short height. The hanger an armored box. There was a comment about the Ark Royal being built for the Pacific?

The only Illustrious class carrier who's flight deck was penetrated by a bomb was Illustrious herself. Interestingly, she was the only ship of her class who's flight deck armor was made in Czechoslovakia. All the others deck armor was made in Great Britain.

Big tiddie Boat waifu (best girl hehe)

I was on holiday on the P & O Arcadia some years back and sat next to a gent at breakfast. We talked about ships and he revealed that as a 17 y o he was assigned to the new Illustrious in the Med. He said that he was in the Boys Mess and there were '247 of us with ages from 14 to 17'. When the bombs started falling he was terrified, but grew up very quickly. It's hard to imagine that any navy could have children on board during times of war, but I suppose it was just a throw back to Nelson and beyond.

Would you consider doing an episode on British Strike Aircraft in the 1940s? Specifically the usage, doctrine, and composition of shipboard strike planes in that era.

This ship is very.. very good looking.. I'm talking about azure lane. The game.

There are some differing views into some of the logic on the armored deck as used in the Illustrious class and other British carriers, and both this and the other arguments are excellently written. I recommend watching Professor Alexander Clarke's videos on the subject if anyone is interested in that or in the design history of these British armored carriers.

Deatb by politician. A terrible fate for any war machine

I,m interested in HMS Glorious, I wonder if you could do a vid on her!!

Soft landing gang where you at?

UK politics post WWII: we don’t need large carriers.
UK politics Now: those Carriers are EXTRA THICCC.

Hello , Kindly look into doing a Guide on the Crown Colony Class Cruiser HMS Nigeria penant number 60...........she is named for Nigeria who gained independence on October 1st 1960 and we are 60 years old this year. So a lot of 60s.......... and she was part of a team that captured an Enigma Machine and code books........Thanks in advance

Implacable class

This is one of my favorite air craft carriers,it looks intresting

The last thing Kamikaze pilots expect... an armored hull, dying honorably by dealing a lot of damage is one, dying stupid is another where all you accomplished is a minor inconvenience to the enemy force

Implacable and indefatigable are considered modified Illustrious carriers. They were somewhat larger with larger airgroups.

Indomitable ran aground while entering Kingston harbour, Jamaica because her captain didn't trust the local pilot. Her repairs meant she wouldn't arrive in Singapore in time to join Prince of Wales and Repulse when they sortied and were sunk by Japanese carrier planes.

Lumbering class CVs

Can we have a long video of the illustrious Class please?

🦅

Just what ever you do, don't call Formidable heavy lol

Where did the name Illustrious come from?

In Februray 1941 she sailed to Virginia for permanent repairs at the safer Norfolk Virgina Navy Yard. One propeller shaft had to be cut away and her speed fell to 23 knots. She returned to service in May 1942.

The royal navy has great names for their ships.

Always liked this channel..very well done with history and interesting comments.

surviving 7 1000lb bomb hits proved the concept of the armoured flight deck-as did the kamakazis

My father served on the illustrious ftom1941 to 1946 he joined the ship after repairs done in Gibraltar from an attack by the Germans stuka bombers. He was a stoker with firefighting duties during an attack his name was Gilbert Sawyer or Bert if you knew him.

My uncle, Albert Broad was on HMS Illustrious, sadly died in action on the 10th Jan 1941 during the seven hour onslaught that Illustrious had to defend itself against before making its way to Malta. I have the Captains book, issued to everyone on board. Its so interesting to read and learn more about this amazing ship and how Albert was part of this. Unfortunately, he was in the aircraft hanger which I believe received a direct hit from a bomb or plane.

Pinned post for Q&A :)