History

HMS Implacable was built by Fairfield, laid down on 21 February 1939, launched 10 December 1942 and commissioned 28 August 1944. She subsequently joined the British Pacific Fleet 1945. Refitted 1948-49. Paid off 1954 and stricken 1955. Broken up from November 1955.

Implacable was ordered in 1938 and her sister ship in the Implacable Class, HMS Indefatigable was ordered a year later.  In response to a Naval Staff requirement for greater speed and increased aircraft complement, an extra turbine and shaft were installed and the lower hangar was extended forward so that it was 46 feet longer than that in Indomitable. The armour plating on the hangar sides was increased to 2", and the height of the lower hangar was lowered by 2 feet so that both hangars had an overhead clearance of only 14 feet. The result was very cramped accommodation spaces, and a restriction on the type of aircraft that could be operated - the hangars were too low for Corsairs, and due to the unavailability of Hellcats the ships were compelled to carry short-range Seafires. The main external differences were the much enlarged funnel and longer island.

Construction was halted in 1940 by order of Winston Churchill, and even after it was resumed little priority was given to their completion. Implacable took 5 years to build, and by the time she was completed her sister was fully operational and already at sea in combat.

HMS Implacable's service history commenced in September 1944 as part of the Home Fleet. She took part in anti-shipping operations off Norway in 26-29 October, and on 27 November 1944. Following being drydocked to repair weather damage in December 1944, she departed for the British Pacific Fleet on 10 March 1945, where her  large air groups, along with those of her sister ship, were responsible for the majority of sorties flown by the carriers of the British Pacific Fleet. She arrived at Sydney in mid-May; and took part in "training strikes" on Truk between 14-15 June 1945, and strikes against Japanese home islands between July-August 1945. She finally returned to the UK from the Pacific on 3 June 1946.

HMS Implacable acted as a deck-landing training ship in the Home Fleet between 1946-49, and was again an  operational carrier in Home Fleet 1949-52. She became a training ship between January 1952-August 1954 and was paid off on August 1954. Implacable was broken up at Inverkeithing from November 1955.

Battle Honours
Norway 1944, Japan 1945

Captains
No information on Captains.

Squadrons and Aircraft
August 1944:  48 aircraft - 24 Seafires and 24 Barracudas
March 1945:  81aircraft - 48 Seafires,  21 Avengers and 12 Fireflies

FAA squadrons embarked	Dates	Aircraft type
1771	Feb 1944-Oct 1945	Firefly I
828	Aug-Dec 1944	Barracuda II
841	Aug-Oct 1944	Barracuda II
887	Oct 1944	Seafire F.III/L.III
894 dt	Oct-Nov 1944	Seafire III
880	Oct 1944-Sept 1945	Seafire F.III/L.III
801	Nov 1944-June 1946	Seafire
881 dt	Dec 1944	Wildcat VI
828	Jan 1945-June 1946	Avenger I-III

Associations and Reunions
No information

Carrier name	HMS Implacable
Class	Implacable Class
Type	Fleet Aircraft Carrier
Ships in Class	Implacable, Indefatigable
Launched	Laid down 21 February 1939. Launched 10 December 1942. Commissioned 28 August 1944.
Tonnage	Displacement: 23,825 tons standard ; 32,624 tons full load
Engines	Propulsion: Steam Turbines (8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 4 shafts, Parsons geared turbines), 148,000 shp.
Speed in Knots	Speed: 32 knots
Armament	Guns: 8 x twin 4.5 inch ; 48 x 2 pdr AA ; 27 x 20 mm
Crew Complement	1550 Officers & Ratings, 700 Air Group
Range	Range: 11,000 nmiles at 14 knots
Length (ft/inches)	Dimensions: 673 pp, 766.5 oa x 95.75 x 29 feet
Beam (ft/inches)
Draught (ft/inches)
Flight Deck length (ft/inches)	760
Flight Deck width (ft/inches)	90
Armour	4" belt 4" hangar sides 3" flight deck 2" hangar decks
Number of aircraft carried	Aircraft: 54
Fate of carrier	Paid off 1954 and stricken 1955. Broken up from November 1955.
Notes	The Implacable Class carriers were a follow-on from the Illustrious class which took Indomitable's modifications a stage further with a full length two-level hangar. Hangar height was even less than in the Illustrious' due to an attempt to stay within the London Naval Treaty's limitations on displacement. By the end of the war, deck parking allowed 81 aircraft to be carried. The lack of hangar height rendered the ships almost useless after the war, unable to operate many modern aircraft.

 

FURTHER INFORMATION   HMS Implacable Class in THE ROYAL NAVY WWII website Details and specifications of the Implacable class including summary history History of Implacable in British Forces.com   Aircraft Profiles by FAUCONBERG AEROGRAPHICS FAIREY FIREFLY F.R. Mk. I, 1771 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, H.M.S. Implacable, British Pacific Fleet, March 1945 Aircraft profiles are offered by Scott Fraser, owner of Tally Ho! decals, eg Firefly F Mk.II, Aircraft profile of Firefly F Mk.II, 1771 Squadron, HMS Implacable Royal Navy Ships of  World War 2: Implacable class Large FleetCarriers   Specifications in warships1.com British_carriers.htm HMS Implacable Earlier ship of 18th C Duguay Trouin (HMS Implacable) Home Page  World Aircraft Carrier Lists and Photo Gallery - from 1913 to 2000. Naval History Information Center, Haze Gray & Underway Sturtivant, R & Ballance, T  (1994). 'The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm' Published by Air Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1994 ISBN: 0 85130 223 8 The World’s Warships 1941 by Francis E. McMurtrie (1944). Jane's London 1941 1st ed.  Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II by Francis E. McMurtrie (Editor)(1984). 320 pages. Crescent Books; ISBN: 0517679639

       Last Modified: 23-2-2001

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