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Operation Meridian
During World War II, Operation Meridian was part of Operation Outflank, a series of British air attacks directed at Japanese-held oil refineries on Sumatra. Meridian had two phases: ''Meridian One'' on 24 January 1945 and ''Meridian Two'' on 29 January. As a result, the critical aviation fuel output of the plants at Palembang was reduced by seventy-five percent. The attacks The attacks were made by aircraft from the British Task Force 63, en route to Sydney, Australia, where it translated into the British Pacific Fleet and subsequently participated in the support of the Allied invasion of Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa (Battle of Okinawa, Operation Iceberg). Refuelling at sea was needed and this was supplied by Task Force 69 of the British Eastern Fleet, three escorted tankers. Task Force 63 left Trincomalee in Ceylon on 13 January 1945, for Sumatra. On 20 January, Task Force 63 rendezvoused with Task Force 69 and refuelled with great difficulty because of gusting winds and a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Refinery Burning After An Attack During Operation Meridian In January 1945
An oil is any polarity (chemistry), nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of Hydrocarbon, hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surfactant, surface active. Most oils are unsaturated lipids that are liquid at room temperature. The general definition of oil includes classes of chemical compounds that may be otherwise unrelated in structure, properties, and uses. Oils may be animal fats, animal, vegetable oil, vegetable, or petrochemical in origin, and may be Volatility (chemistry), volatile or non-volatile. They are used for food (e.g., olive oil), fuel (e.g., heating oil), medical purposes (e.g., mineral oil), lubrication (e.g. motor oil), and the manufacture of many types of paints, plastics, and other materials. Specially prepared oils are used in some religious ceremonies and rituals as purifying agents. Etymology First attested in English 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Seafire
The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane. The name Seafire was derived from the abbreviation of the longer name Sea Spitfire.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p. 247. The idea of adopting a navalised carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire had been mooted by the Admiralty as early as May 1938. Despite a pressing need to replace various types of obsolete aircraft that were still in operation with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), some opposed the notion, such as Winston Churchill, although these disputes were often a result of an overriding priority being placed on maximising production of land-based Spitfires instead. During 1941 and early 1942, the concept was again pushed for by the Admiralty, culminating in an initial batch of Seafire Mk Ib fighters being provided in late 1941 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Kempenfelt (R03)
HMS ''Kempenfelt'' was a W-class destroyer flotilla leader of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War. She was the second destroyer of her name to have served in the war; the first ''Kempenfelt'' was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in October 1939 and renamed . Construction and commissioning ''Kempenfelt'' was ordered in December 1941 and was laid down at the Clydebank yards of John Brown and Company. She was built as HMS ''Valentine'', but this was changed to ''Kempenfelt'' as part of a rationalisation of the names used for the later wartime classes of destroyers. She was launched on 8 May 1943 and commissioned into service on 25 October 1943. During her time under construction she had been adopted by the civil community of Hammersmith after a successful Warship Week national savings campaign. Wartime career Mediterranean ''Kempenfelt'' joined the 24th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean in December 1943, and in January was assigned to support the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Undaunted (R53)
HMS ''Undaunted'' was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F53. Design ''Undaunted'' was one of eight U-class destroyers ordered as the 7th Emergency Flotilla on 12 June 1941. The U-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production. The U-class were almost identical to the S-class ordered as the 5th Emergency Flotilla and the R-class ordered as the 6th Emergency Flotilla earlier in the year, but were not fitted for operations in Arctic waters. The U-class were long overall, at the waterline and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Ursa (R22)
HMS ''Ursa'' was a U-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F200. Design ''Ursa'' was one of eight U-class destroyers ordered as the 7th Emergency Flotilla on 12 June 1941. The U-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production. The U-class were almost identical to the S-class ordered as the 5th Emergency Flotilla and the R-class ordered as the 6th Emergency Flotilla earlier in the year, but were not fitted for operations in Arctic waters. The U-class were long overall, at the waterline and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draugh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Undine (R42)
HMS ''Undine'' was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. On 27 March 1945, HMS ''Undine'' detached from RN Fast Carrier TF57 to rescue the airmen of a downed RN TBF Avenger aircraft also rescued a USN Corsair pilot adrift for two days south of the Sakishima Gunto in the Philippine Sea. Design and construction ''Undine'' was one of eight U-class destroyers ordered as the 7th Emergency Flotilla on 12 June 1941. The U-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production. The U-class were almost identical to the S-class ordered as the 5th Emergency Flotilla and the T-class ordered as the 6th Emergency Flotilla earlier in the year, but were not fitted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Grenville (R97)
HMS ''Grenville'' was the second ship of this name to serve with the Royal Navy in the Second World War. ''Grenville'' and seven other U-class destroyers were ordered as part of the Emergency Programme. She was launched at Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne on 12 October 1942 and commissioned on 27 May 1943. The Royal Navy's practice had been to name all destroyers of a class with names starting with the class letter, in this "U". However, the Royal Navy had reverted to an earlier practice of naming the flotilla leader after a prominent historical seaman, in this case after Vice Admiral Sir Richard Grenville, an Elizabethan soldier and sailor. Design and construction ''Grenville'' was one of eight U-class destroyers ordered as the 7th Emergency Flotilla on 12 June 1941, and was fitted as leader. The U-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Euryalus (42)
HMS ''Euryalus'' was a of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 21 October 1937, launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941. ''Euryalus'' was the last cruiser built at the dockyard. Mediterranean service Malta convoys On 17 September 1941 ''Euryalus'' joined the escort for convoy WS 11X from Glasgow to Gibraltar. From 24 to 30 September 1941 she was part of Operation Halberd, one of the Malta Convoys. Nine fast freighters, escorted by the battleships , and , the aircraft carrier , cruisers , , , HMS ''Euryalus'' and , and eighteen destroyers sailed from Gibraltar. Two days later the force was spotted by Italian scout planes. Italian air attacks launched from Sardinia began on 27 September. The battleship ''Nelson'' was hit by a torpedo north of the Galite Islands. That evening the freighter ''Imperial Star'' was sunk north of Cap Bon. On 1 October ''Euryalus'' became part of Force W at Gibraltar. ''Euryalus'' joined the 15th Cruiser Sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Black Prince (81)
HMS ''Black Prince'' was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, of the ''Bellona'' subgroup. The cruiser was commissioned in 1943, and served during World War II on the Arctic convoys, during the Normandy landings, and as part of the British Pacific Fleet. In 1946, the cruiser was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy, becoming HMNZS ''Black Prince''. The cruiser was docked for modernisation in 1947, but in April, her sailors walked off the ship as part of a series of mutinies in the RNZN. The shortage of manpower resulting from these mutinies meant that the modernisation had to be cancelled, and ''Black Prince'' was placed in reserve until 1953. She returned to service after refitting with simplified secondary armament with a single quad "pom pom" in Q position and eight Mk3 40mm Bofors guns. The ship was decommissioned again two years later, and returned to the Royal Navy in 1961. ''Black Prince'' did not re-enter service, and was towed from Auckland to Osaka for scrapping in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Victorious (R38)
HMS ''Victorious'' was the third ''Illustrious''-class aircraft carrier after ''Illustrious'' and ''Formidable''. Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic. Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleship ''Bismarck'', several Arctic convoys, and Operation Pedestal. She was loaned to the United States Navy in 1943 and served in the south west Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. ''Victorious'' contributed to several attacks on the ''Tirpitz''. The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to the Eastern Fleet at Colombo and then to the Pacific for the final actions of the war against Japan. After the war, her service was broken by periods in reserve and, between 1950 and 1958, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Indefatigable (R10)
HMS ''Indefatigable'' was one of two s built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Completed in 1944, her aircraft made several attacks that year against the , inflicting only light damage; they also raided targets in Norway. The ship was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) at the end of the year and attacked Japanese-controlled oil refinery, oil refineries in Sumatra in January 1945 before joining the American forces in March as they prepared to invade the island of Okinawa in Operation Iceberg. ''Indefatigable'' and the BPF joined the Americans in attacking the Japanese Home Islands in July and August. Following the end of hostilities she visited ports in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. After returning to the UK in early 1946, ''Indefatigable'' was modified for transport duties, and ferried troops and civilians for the rest of the year before she was reduced to Reserve fleet, reserve. She was recommissioned in 1950 as a training ship for service wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Illustrious (R87)
HMS ''Illustrious'' was the lead ship of Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II. Her first assignment after completion and Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z)#working up, working up was with the Mediterranean Fleet, in which her aircraft's most notable achievement was sinking one Italian battleship and badly damaging two others during the Battle of Taranto in late 1940. Two months later the carrier was crippled by German dive bombers and was repaired in the United States. After sustaining damage on the voyage home in late 1941 by a collision with her sister ship , ''Illustrious'' was sent to the Indian Ocean in early 1942 to support the invasion of Vichy French Madagascar (Operation Ironclad). After returning home in early 1943, the ship was given a lengthy refit and briefly assigned to the Home Fleet. She was transferred to Force H for the Allied invasion of Italy, Battle of Salerno in mid-1943 and then rejoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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