Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Indefatigable

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TypeAircraft carrier (CV)
Hull10
FateAfloat. A kamikaze hit her on 1 April 1945. Not sunk. Survived the war.
Command

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

Indefatigable
HMS Indefatigable At anchor. Public domain.

HMS Indefatigable was a fleet carrier of the Royal Navy, known in the fleet by the pennant number 10. A ship of that kind took her aircraft to sea with the main force and worked them from a full flight deck.

Quintin Dick Graham became her captain on 1 September 1943. He remained in command through the rest of the war and was relieved on 1 November 1945.

At Okinawa on 1 April 1945, a kamikaze hit the base of her island, the superstructure that rose clear of the flight deck and carried the bridge.

She was still an operating carrier that afternoon. Aircraft flew from her again before the day ended, and the ship stayed afloat.

The April strike did not finish her. Indefatigable was not sunk, and she survived the war, with Graham still her captain until his relief in November.

The pictures on this page are the originals.