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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Hermes, First British Ship…
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Hermes, First British Ship built as an Aircraft Carrier
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Hermes, First British Ship…
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Hermes, First British Ship built as an Aircraft Carrier

Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Hermes, First British Ship built as an Aircraft Carrier

Associated (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)
Medallist
DateMay 2004
Object NameMedal
MediumSterling Silver
ClassificationsMedals
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS072500.88
About MeNaval aviation developed almost sensationally during the course of the First World War. Various ships, including fast ocean liners and cross-channel steamers, were altered and adapted to operate float planes, which had to be lowered into the sea by crane, and depended on comparatively smooth water Early in 1916 Group Captain H.A. Williamson, who was then serving in the Royal Naval Air Service, produced a model of what later became standard construction, an 'island-type' purpose-built aircraft carrier with a flight deck from which land-type aeroplanes could operate.

The idea was shelved until 1919, when HMS Hermes was approved and was built from the keel upwards as an aircraft carrier to operate with the Fleet. Because she was experimental and because the war emergency had passed, the ship was not completed until 1923. She came into service the following year. Although conservative naval opinion doubted her value, she was a most successful ship, and she looked the part for which she was designed.

The Hermes was of 10,850 tons displacement, and she had an extreme length of 598 feet. The breadth of her flight deck was 90 feet. Her maximum speed was 25 knots; she was well armed, and she carried 15 aircraft.

The ship did useful service during the Second World War. She operated in the Atlantic, and against the Italians in East Africa. She was sunk by the Japanese off Ceylon in 1942, though not before some of her aircraft had played a useful part in the air defence of the island.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.
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