@armouredcarriers.bsky.social
I found the theme music haunting. It stuck in my mind for years.
This scene, however, is stuck permanently.
This scene, however, is stuck permanently.
October 26, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I found the theme music haunting. It stuck in my mind for years.
This scene, however, is stuck permanently.
This scene, however, is stuck permanently.
Working on a Memories of War edit focused on Seafires over Salerno. Sorting out the Order of Battle for Operation Avalanche's carrier units...
Also first (and abandoned) operation for the Barracuda I. Last operation for Albacore.
#NavalHistory #ww2 #History
Also first (and abandoned) operation for the Barracuda I. Last operation for Albacore.
#NavalHistory #ww2 #History
September 29, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Working on a Memories of War edit focused on Seafires over Salerno. Sorting out the Order of Battle for Operation Avalanche's carrier units...
Also first (and abandoned) operation for the Barracuda I. Last operation for Albacore.
#NavalHistory #ww2 #History
Also first (and abandoned) operation for the Barracuda I. Last operation for Albacore.
#NavalHistory #ww2 #History
Sulaco simply looks purposeful. There is no doubt it is a warship. And, IMHO, it triggered a whole new branch of "spaceship look" after it made its appearance.
I put the Derelict in a whole different (non-Earthling) bucket. But it was also brilliant.
I put the Derelict in a whole different (non-Earthling) bucket. But it was also brilliant.
September 5, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Sulaco simply looks purposeful. There is no doubt it is a warship. And, IMHO, it triggered a whole new branch of "spaceship look" after it made its appearance.
I put the Derelict in a whole different (non-Earthling) bucket. But it was also brilliant.
I put the Derelict in a whole different (non-Earthling) bucket. But it was also brilliant.
There are a few pieces of ww2 naval art that just ... nails it. The HMS Saracen painting is one. "No Place To Land" is another, IMHO. It was also cover art, though I cannot remember the book.
June 3, 2025 at 12:24 AM
There are a few pieces of ww2 naval art that just ... nails it. The HMS Saracen painting is one. "No Place To Land" is another, IMHO. It was also cover art, though I cannot remember the book.
It took HMS Indefatigable less than 40 minutes to restore the deck flight operations. Several Seafires (she was the only carrier to be operating them) had to land on other RN carriers. As their arrestor wires were tensioned for heavy F4U Corsairs, the results were ... destructive to fatal.
April 1, 2025 at 9:19 AM
It took HMS Indefatigable less than 40 minutes to restore the deck flight operations. Several Seafires (she was the only carrier to be operating them) had to land on other RN carriers. As their arrestor wires were tensioned for heavy F4U Corsairs, the results were ... destructive to fatal.
HMS Indefatigable suffered most of her casualties in the pilot's ready room and plotting offices. Ironically, a splinter severed a steam line to the mast's horn. This quickly smothered whatever fires caught hold inside the bridge structure.
April 1, 2025 at 9:14 AM
HMS Indefatigable suffered most of her casualties in the pilot's ready room and plotting offices. Ironically, a splinter severed a steam line to the mast's horn. This quickly smothered whatever fires caught hold inside the bridge structure.
The blast from the kamikaze and its bomb generated "flash" (explosive fireball) and sent splinters through the island. Its blackened structure also reveals a blast hole at deck level in the photo below.
April 1, 2025 at 9:12 AM
The blast from the kamikaze and its bomb generated "flash" (explosive fireball) and sent splinters through the island. Its blackened structure also reveals a blast hole at deck level in the photo below.
HMS Indefatigable (sorry, I said Implacable - her sister ship - earlier).
Here the crew begin to clean up the armoured flight deck. The bomb-carrying fighter damaged two of the crash barrier mechanisms. But did not penetrate the armoured deck.
Here the crew begin to clean up the armoured flight deck. The bomb-carrying fighter damaged two of the crash barrier mechanisms. But did not penetrate the armoured deck.
April 1, 2025 at 9:11 AM
HMS Indefatigable (sorry, I said Implacable - her sister ship - earlier).
Here the crew begin to clean up the armoured flight deck. The bomb-carrying fighter damaged two of the crash barrier mechanisms. But did not penetrate the armoured deck.
Here the crew begin to clean up the armoured flight deck. The bomb-carrying fighter damaged two of the crash barrier mechanisms. But did not penetrate the armoured deck.
IWM (A 7891) The pilot and observer of a Fairey Fulmar, Lieut D R Robertson, RNVR (pilot) and Sub Lieut E M Frazer, RNVR, both from Scotland, photographed on the wing of their machine just after they had the Scottish Lion put on the cowling.
March 26, 2025 at 12:14 PM
IWM (A 7891) The pilot and observer of a Fairey Fulmar, Lieut D R Robertson, RNVR (pilot) and Sub Lieut E M Frazer, RNVR, both from Scotland, photographed on the wing of their machine just after they had the Scottish Lion put on the cowling.
6J in another photo from that batch: In hangar. Shows serial number clearly, but not the duck ...A 7279
March 26, 2025 at 11:46 AM
6J in another photo from that batch: In hangar. Shows serial number clearly, but not the duck ...A 7279
Is that the top of the head of a duck I see? ...
Same photographer, same time, same place:
Same photographer, same time, same place:
March 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Is that the top of the head of a duck I see? ...
Same photographer, same time, same place:
Same photographer, same time, same place:
Same photographer, same all-inclusive group name, aircraft "6" ... IWM A 6123
March 26, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Same photographer, same all-inclusive group name, aircraft "6" ... IWM A 6123
A bit of a clue for Donald Duck ... Aircraft "6" aboard HMS Victorious: Lieutenant G J Stavgley, RNVR, observer (left) and Lieutenant M J S Newman, RN, off Hvalfjord, Iceland.
IWM A 7568
IWM A 7568
March 26, 2025 at 11:15 AM
A bit of a clue for Donald Duck ... Aircraft "6" aboard HMS Victorious: Lieutenant G J Stavgley, RNVR, observer (left) and Lieutenant M J S Newman, RN, off Hvalfjord, Iceland.
IWM A 7568
IWM A 7568
Heh, looks like these Spitfires may have been the first to test the "Ski-ramp" concept ... ;)
March 8, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Heh, looks like these Spitfires may have been the first to test the "Ski-ramp" concept ... ;)
Unfortunately, it does not specify the convoy or the date. But it does appear to be part of a sequence of photos.
December 23, 2024 at 4:33 AM
Unfortunately, it does not specify the convoy or the date. But it does appear to be part of a sequence of photos.
All those after-action reports, battle damage reports ... tantalisingly in reach.
But bloody expensive to access.
Long story short - after another year or so of failing to find the accounts and details I wanted, I (barely still single at the time) decided to indulge. I ordered digital copies.
Wow.
But bloody expensive to access.
Long story short - after another year or so of failing to find the accounts and details I wanted, I (barely still single at the time) decided to indulge. I ordered digital copies.
Wow.
December 22, 2024 at 2:30 AM
All those after-action reports, battle damage reports ... tantalisingly in reach.
But bloody expensive to access.
Long story short - after another year or so of failing to find the accounts and details I wanted, I (barely still single at the time) decided to indulge. I ordered digital copies.
Wow.
But bloody expensive to access.
Long story short - after another year or so of failing to find the accounts and details I wanted, I (barely still single at the time) decided to indulge. I ordered digital copies.
Wow.
That irked me. So I forked out big dollars for an out-of-printy copy of Friedman's British Carrier Aviation.
It was a fascinating and illuminating analysis of the whole design and development process from the RN perspective. But, again, the bombing of Illustrious attracted just a few lines.
It was a fascinating and illuminating analysis of the whole design and development process from the RN perspective. But, again, the bombing of Illustrious attracted just a few lines.
December 22, 2024 at 2:25 AM
That irked me. So I forked out big dollars for an out-of-printy copy of Friedman's British Carrier Aviation.
It was a fascinating and illuminating analysis of the whole design and development process from the RN perspective. But, again, the bombing of Illustrious attracted just a few lines.
It was a fascinating and illuminating analysis of the whole design and development process from the RN perspective. But, again, the bombing of Illustrious attracted just a few lines.
Well , I was gobsmacked. It really was a story right up there with Bunker Hill and Franklin.
Also ... few of the details seemed to match those I'd managed to glean in previous years from those big, expensive, carrier naval history tomes. Or the internetz.
Also ... few of the details seemed to match those I'd managed to glean in previous years from those big, expensive, carrier naval history tomes. Or the internetz.
December 22, 2024 at 2:22 AM
Well , I was gobsmacked. It really was a story right up there with Bunker Hill and Franklin.
Also ... few of the details seemed to match those I'd managed to glean in previous years from those big, expensive, carrier naval history tomes. Or the internetz.
Also ... few of the details seemed to match those I'd managed to glean in previous years from those big, expensive, carrier naval history tomes. Or the internetz.
But a year or two later, I chanced upon a book at a second-hand market stall. At the price - and excited at the prospect of more amazing stories of survival, I naturally handed over the $1.50 without hesitation!
December 22, 2024 at 2:17 AM
But a year or two later, I chanced upon a book at a second-hand market stall. At the price - and excited at the prospect of more amazing stories of survival, I naturally handed over the $1.50 without hesitation!
Anyway, I exhausted all the reading material I could find on Bunker hill and Franklin (and it was reasonably comprehensive). And I extended this to accounts of kamikaze attacks on Hancock, Intrepid, Ticonderoga et al.
December 22, 2024 at 2:03 AM
Anyway, I exhausted all the reading material I could find on Bunker hill and Franklin (and it was reasonably comprehensive). And I extended this to accounts of kamikaze attacks on Hancock, Intrepid, Ticonderoga et al.
I had not met Drachinifel @drachinifel.bsky.social or Dr Alexander Clarke yet. And I was a news reporter - not a naval historian. But I'd covered enough accidents etc to know there is always an engineering story beneath the courage and cowardice displayed by people in a crisis... #navalhistory
December 22, 2024 at 2:00 AM
I had not met Drachinifel @drachinifel.bsky.social or Dr Alexander Clarke yet. And I was a news reporter - not a naval historian. But I'd covered enough accidents etc to know there is always an engineering story beneath the courage and cowardice displayed by people in a crisis... #navalhistory
I'll kick-off my BlueSky posts by addressing what
started this hobby 20 years ago ...
Why build an armoured aircraft carrier?
I arrived at the idea after being horrified and amazed by the stories of USS Bunker Hill and Franklin. Truly epic examples of the worst a war can throw at a ship and crew.
started this hobby 20 years ago ...
Why build an armoured aircraft carrier?
I arrived at the idea after being horrified and amazed by the stories of USS Bunker Hill and Franklin. Truly epic examples of the worst a war can throw at a ship and crew.
December 22, 2024 at 1:55 AM
I'll kick-off my BlueSky posts by addressing what
started this hobby 20 years ago ...
Why build an armoured aircraft carrier?
I arrived at the idea after being horrified and amazed by the stories of USS Bunker Hill and Franklin. Truly epic examples of the worst a war can throw at a ship and crew.
started this hobby 20 years ago ...
Why build an armoured aircraft carrier?
I arrived at the idea after being horrified and amazed by the stories of USS Bunker Hill and Franklin. Truly epic examples of the worst a war can throw at a ship and crew.