Submission by Jackie Edwards:
Launched on 14 September 1939, the HMS Victorious was one of four Illustrious-class aircraft carriers that pushed the boundaries, both in terms of what manufacturing could achieve under the Second London Naval Treaty and in terms of the power projection of aircraft carriers. The Victorious has rightly been described by Royal Museums Greenwich as a craft of ‘impressive and tireless’ war service and played a pivotal role in some of the most important sea power missions anywhere in the multiple theaters of WW2. However, that easily might not have been the case.
HMS Victorious was not without its problems. One famous issue it is associated with is its rudder deficiencies, which prevented it from launching aircraft during a campaign in the Nicobar Islands. These rudder deficiencies actually impacted the Victorious on more than one occasion, which, while not harming the overall legacy of the craft, may have had a much deeper impact.
The Nicobar strike
The Victorious was considerably influential in wartime operations across the world, and was particularly impactful in the late-war Pacific theater towards the end of the war. Operation Millet was an important piece of work that saw the fleet strike targets in the Nicobar islands. An outstanding wartime reel from the Imperial War Museum, London, shows just how the operation went and its vital impact.
These attacks were not a matter of ‘mopping up’ given the advanced stage of the war. On the contrary, these attacks were high-priority and dangerous missions. Four aircraft were destroyed during these missions, and five more were damaged. It’s important to remember the human impact of this and, in particular, the challenges associated with naval warfare. Where there are losses, they are often felt more keenly at sea, given the challenges of recovering treasured memories or even just dog tags.
While the mission was a success, these steering problems are at the heart of technical limitations for aircraft carriers. Simply put, without fine maneuverability, they cannot launch aircraft consistently and to ideal operational capacity. Without that, the concept of an aircraft carrier is somewhat redundant.
Immediate impacts
As a result of the steering problems experienced throughout the period of operations in and around Nicobar, the Victorious was taken to Bombay for repair. While the turnaround on this was relatively quick - Naval-History.net cites records showing the ship was fit for sailing again by November 22nd - it did impact the opportunities the Victorious could take while in operational use.
According to Naval-History, the Victorious entered service with the Pacific Fleet and in December resumed operational duties. However, this didn’t mean an immediate return to marshaling air attacks. To the contrary, the Victorious was excepted from active air attacks on oil refineries and drilling operations in Pangkalang.
Continued service
The Victorious continued to participate in the war through the remainder of 1945, but largely in bombing oil fields and other associated machinery. The glory associated with operations on the Bismarck and Tirpitz were largely a thing of the past, though there is an element of need here. Those ships needed to be disabled to damage German morale and establish proper superiority in the European theater. As time wore on, the war in the Pacific was typified by a need to strangle Japanese resources.
As such, the repeated air attacks on oil-producing facilities were a necessary part of closing out the war. It was fraught with danger; captured pilots were routinely executed by the Japanese and within months of capture. While not as filled with glory as those early, high-stakes attacks, this was nevertheless an important part of the picture.
Capturing rudder issues
What this shows is the crucial importance of the rudder in WW2-era ships, and especially aircraft carriers. Technical details from Bismarck-Class.dk show how ships such as the Bismarck relied on advanced rudders to help steer the immense mass of the ship, and, yet, this became their downfall. Torpedo action jammed the rudders, rendering them useless, and vulnerable to attack by those mobile aircraft carriers. Similarly, the various operations commenced against the Tirpitz, including Tungsten, which involved Victorious, and then Paravane and Obviate sought to exploit this weakness. Where these ships could have their power of mobility limited, they were rendered, essentially, sitting ducks, at the whim of bombers, sabotage, and everything else the British and allied forces had to throw at them. These lessons were well learned in the already sophisticated Royal Navy, which is why the Victorious was shelved and repaired for such considerable lengths of time; the value of fine steering, especially in aircraft carriers, had not been underestimated and had indeed been valued.
The value of the rudder and the steering problems it brought would have been troubling to naval planners in the pacific theater. It disabled the Victorious, an iconic and highly experienced ship that had an enormous role to play in a number of theaters across the world, and a hand in the most iconic defeats inflicted on the Kriegsmarine. While the impact of these rudder changes and constant repairs looks to be a hit to the prestige of the craft, it is arguable that it was more of a change in focus, towards something just as important in closing out the war and bringing the brutal conflict that was World War II to its final close.