The British Carrier Strike Fleet. David Hobbs
department managed to re-reeve the catapult, a major and unprecedented achievement at sea. Deadweight launches were carried out off Hong Kong, followed by live launches to prove its restored efficiency.
When Theseus left Korean waters it had been thought that the war was nearly over and other warships had been withdrawn at the same time but the massive and totally unexpected Chinese offensive across the Yalu River in December 1950 began a new phase of the conflict which forced UN forces to retreat to the south. The lack of any warning that such an offensive was being prepared was the second significant failure by Allied intelligence agencies. Theseus, therefore, returned to the war zone to begin a new period of operations with her squadrons brought back up to their full numbers in the bitter winter of 1950. Despite atrocious weather conditions she maintained 95 per cent aircraft serviceability and flew 338 sorties in seven days. Notwithstanding the widely-held view earlier in 1950 that her piston-engined fighters were obsolescent, they proved to be the ideal aircraft for the task confronting the RN and the emerging generation of jet fighters could not have done as well in the circumstances. Their targets included railway bridges and rolling stock, trucks and enemy troops on the march. During the critical month of December 1950 Theseus spent twenty-three days at sea and flew 630 sorties during which her aircraft expended 38,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition and fired 1412 rocket projectiles. These figures were way beyond the ship’s normal outfit and the RN armament supply organisation did a superb job replenishing her stocks at sea from RFA armament stores issuing ships at the end of a very long supply chain.
A Firefly FR 5 photographed from another aircraft over North Korea. It has just dropped bombs on a target and smoke from them can be seen at the top of the picture. (Author’s collection)
Theseus entering Sasebo for the last time on 20 April 1951 with sailors spelling out her name on the flight deck. (Author’s collection)
During January 1951 she flew sixty sorties in a single day, a record at the time for a light fleet carrier, targeting railways, trucks and junks. On 18 January 1951 the Admiralty announced that 17 CAG had been awarded the Boyd Trophy for its operations off Korea.14 At the end of January the Sea Otter was disembarked and replaced on board by a USN S-51 helicopter for SAR duties. On 2 February a run of 1463 accident-free deck landings ended when a Sea Fury landed heavily and broke its undercarriage but a day later a new record of sixty-six sorties in a single day was achieved. Theseus’ tenth and last war patrol off Korea began on 8 April 1951; this was off the east coast in company with the USS Bataan,15 one of the USN light carriers that replaced the British carriers on task when they went into harbour for a period of rest and replenishment. The two carriers were intended to deter a possible Chinese attack on Formosa but Theseus managed to maintain reconnaissance sorties off the west coast by flying aircraft across the peninsula. Her targets in the east included railway marshalling yards in Wonsan. On 17 April she moved back to her more familiar area off the west coast and on 20 April 1951 she entered Sasebo for the last time with members of her ship’s company spelling out her name on the flight deck. On 25 April she sailed for the UK and arrived on 29 May 1951. Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser of North Cape, the First Sea Lord, came on board at once to present the Boyd Trophy.
Glory in Korean waters with Sea Furies and Fireflies ranged aft. (Author’s collection)
Replenishing liquids at sea. Glory and HMAS Bataan taking on fuel from RFA Wave Premier using the method perfected by the BPF in 1945. (Author’s collection)
HMS Glory – April 1951 to September 1951
Glory had been serving in the Mediterranean Fleet during 1950 but late in the year she was ordered to make preparations to relieve Theseus in the Far East. Her 14 CAG, comprising 804 (Sea Fury FB 11s) and 812 (Firefly FR 5s) NAS, was disembarked to RNAS Hal Far in Malta where its aircraft and personnel were brought up to war strength and worked up to a high state of operational efficiency. Meanwhile the ship returned to Devonport and paid off on 16 December. She re-commissioned with a full war complement on 29 December 1950 and returned to the Mediterranean, arriving in Malta on 2 February 1951. A work-up with squadrons embarked lasted until March, after which she sailed for the Far East Station, arriving in Sasebo on 23 April where she took on board personnel, aircraft, stores and ammunition from Theseus and Unicorn. The USN S-51 helicopter detachment was embarked for SAR duty. Glory sailed for her first period of operations on 26 April 1951 off the west coast, her aircraft attacking railway lines bridges, enemy logistics and junks. In addition to these offensive sorties, Sea Furies maintained a CAP over the task group and Fireflies flew anti-submarine patrols.
A Sea Fury FB 11 bombing a bridge in North Korea. One of its bombs can be seen falling on the left-hand side of the picture, slightly above the small, circular crater with water in it. The photograph was taken by his wing-man who had things other than photography on his mind and is, unfortunately, of poor quality but it is just possible to see the steam from a train which has just crossed the bridge at its right-hand extremity. The bombs might, therefore, hit the bridge while rolling stock is still on it. (Author’s collection)
An exhausted crane landed on Glory during a war patrol off Korea and is seen here standing on the cockpit of a Sea Fury FB 11, which is armed with 500lb bombs outboard of the drop tanks. Kind-hearted sailors fed it on milk and kippers for several days and it eventually flew off revived and happy! (Author’s collection)
The SAR helicopter saw its first use on 14 May 1951 when Stoker McPherson fell overboard and was subsequently winched to safety, the first time such a rescue had been carried out from an RN ship. During her first operational tour of duty off Korea, Glory carried out nine war patrols, during one of which her aircraft achieved a new light fleet carrier record of eighty-nine sorties in a single day’s flying. Between April and the end of September 1951 Glory’s aircraft had flown 2875 hours in 107 days at sea with only nine accidents. The tally of targets destroyed included 679 junks, 794 ox-carts16 and 236 railway wagons for the expenditure of 1450 500lb bombs, 9242 rocket projectiles and 538,000 rounds of 20mm cannon ammunition. On 22 September 804 NAS completed its 1000th accident-free deck landing and for much of this period it had maintained 100 per cent serviceability. By September the ship was badly in need of a refit and it was decided to carry this out in Her Majesty’s Australian Dockyard at Garden Island in Sydney, Australia and she berthed in Kure on 27 September to hand over to HMAS Sydney.
HMAS Sydney 3 – September 1951 to January 1952
The RAN had formed its own Fleet Air Arm in 1948 with considerable help from the RN and Australia’s first aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney, had only arrived at her new home port in 1949. The need to withdraw Glory for a refit in Australia posed a problem for the Admiralty since Ocean, the next light fleet carrier intended for service in the war zone, would not be ready to deploy until May 1952. To fill the gap the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser, asked the First Naval Member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board, Vice Admiral Sir John Collins, if it would be possible for ‘Sydney to relieve Glory for two or three months operational flying if the Korean business is still going’.17 Collins supported the idea and put it to the Australian Government which approved the deployment in May 1951. This was a substantial increase in the nation’s commitment to the war and a significant development in Australian history since only three nations, the UK, USA and Japan, had previously deployed