Part 2 of : Scrapped - An Ignoble End To A Great Ship: HMS Indomitable

This was not the end of the war for the Indomitable however. She was soon to return to the Eastern Fleet, together with Victorious, with which ship she formed a formidable team as they launched strikes against Sumatra in August and September, and later the Nicobar Islands. Soon Indomitable joined up with Illustrious, making air strikes against Medan and then again Sumatra on 20 December, but by the New Year she was detailed to join the British Pacific Fleet and on 4th January was making further strikes against Medan with her sister-ship Victorious and the Indefatigable, and then later action against Palembang and Sumatra.

A little less than a year after being torpedoed she was again hit, this time by a Kamikaze on the 4th May 1945. Happily very little damage was suffered on her armoured flight deck, and with the war drawing to a close she headed for occupied Hong Kong to assist in retaking the territory. It was here her aircraft flew their last combat missions of the war. On 31st August and 1st September she was in action against Japanese suicide boats which were attempting to attack British forces. And sadly this ended Indomitable's active career.

She returned home to the UK in November 1945 and in 1947 was placed in the Reserve Fleet before being refitted, a task which took three years from 1947 -1950. Following this she joined the Home Fleet and was generally active in 'showing the flag' around cooler waters.

This was the first time I had contact with her. My husband by now was the Gunnery Office Writer aboard the Indomitable, a fact which suited me very well as for the majority of the time when the ship was in dock he was able to carry out his duties during the day and return home at night. I never set foot on her, but his recounting the goings on aboard made me feel very close to her ship's company.

Our daughter was born on 17th December 1952 and it was a great shock to us to learn that the Indomitable was to leave for a Spring Cruise showing the flag in the Mediterranean only a few weeks later. I was assured the trip would last a mere three months and with no war on at the time I was not concerned.

I watched the Indomitable leave harbour from a vantage point on Southsea front where I stood with my almost new baby in her pram thinking the three months would not be easy for me.

Things turned out more difficult than imagined as Indomitable's luck again ran out. Whilst refuelling on the 3rd February something happened to cause a leak which resulted in the high octane fuel pouring out over the deck and down the hatches. Even worse, the fuel caught fire causing a massive explosion which reverberated through the ship's corridors injuring many and killing some.

Normally I would not have heard so quickly about this. Remember no telephones in those days. As it was I received a telegram informing me my husband had been killed. Relatives of my husband reading of the accident in the newspaper where his name was listed amongst the dead took the next train from Chichester where they lived to come to my aid.

I am happy to say that before their arrival I received a second telegram telling me the first had been sent in error!

The explosion had taken place in a corridor down which my husband would normally have been walking. As it was he had taken a different route as just beforehand the Boy-seamen on board had been piped to go to the Flight Deck and he did want to get in their way. Unfortunately one of the boys was caught in this corridor – he also was named Smith and in the panic and because of the damage he had suffered he was wrongly identified. When my husband arrived in his office his colleagues thought he was a ghost and sent him post haste to try and stop the first telegram being sent. Too late – but what a reunion we had when he returned several months late after the ship having remained in Malta for a temporary repair. In fact she was never fully repaired and in October 1953 she was placed in the Reserve Fleet, only to be sold for scrap in 1955. A sad end for a battle-scarred not very old heroine.

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