Fifty five years ago Hermanus experienced its longest and most high profile contact ever with the Royal Navy. The famous aircraft carrier HMS Victorious officially visited the town for two incident-packed days that galvanised the whole population.
HMS Victorious 1961
HMS Victorious was the most famous of all Royal Navy aircraft carriers in 1961 when she anchored in Walker Bay and most of her 2000 strong crew came ashore on two successive weekends for R&R. She was commissioned in 1939 and served in several key battles during World War II. Most notably, she provided air cover to other Royal Navy ships in the sinking of the German battleship, the Bismarck. She was thrown into this battle although not fully equipped and with only a quarter of her full complement of aircraft.
In 1941 and 1942 the Victorious accompanied many Atlantic convoys, especially a convoy to deliver much needed supplies to the island of Malta. She was also part of a convoy that landed 107 000 Allied soldiers in North Africa. Convoys continued in 1943, and in 1944 Victorious played a leading role in sinking the German battleship Tirpitz.
1945 found the aircraft carrier in the Pacific, attacking installations on Japanese held islands and on the Japanese mainland, before the War ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb. Sadly, five of the pilots operating from the...
