HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean
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HMS Illustrious shows the famous armoured aircraft carrier conducting flight operations in the Mediterranean during World War II.
HMS Illustrious represented a shift in naval architecture to armoured flight decks that made her capable of withstanding bomb damage that would cripple unprotected carriers: something that would be needed repeatedly throughout the war.
The painting captures carrier operations with the fragile but bizarrely effective Fairey Swordfish biplanes landing on the flight deck. They would be remembered for the famous Taranto raid that hit the Italian fleet in port, for their actions in the Bismarck chase and for hunting German U-boats.
In the background, the silhouettes of other Royal Navy vessels; a destroyer following the carrier and a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship on the right of the picture.
This painting shows a quiet, atmospheric moment in the opening stages of WW2.
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