My Aunt (nurse and midwife) went out to Malta in 1937 to help with the serious child health problems they had. She was there throughout the siege, leaving for Alexandria in 1942. She survived when her hospital was bombed and gave me a photograph she took of a ship taking a direct in the harbour. She told me the huge relief the people felt when the crippled petrol tanker Ohio was brought in strapped between two destroyers. She carried fuel critically needed for Spitfires on Malta. Ohio actually sank at the dockside, but her avgas was pumped out and used by Malta’s defending aircraft.
Mine too (Albert Challinor). He had a premonition that something was going to happen so had his few prized possessions (that he had on-board) with him when he left the ship (I think the Eagle sank very quickly). He was in the sea for some time before being picked-up by other elements of the convoy - perhaps like your grandad was too.
@@grantchallinor5263 mine as well. Thomas Ivison, was his name. He said he floated for 3 hours before being picked up. Surreal to see it going down in this video. Would’ve been crazy for him to have watched this but sadly he left us a few years back now.
@@M3LL15A Maybe our grandfathers knew each other! My grandfather (who was on the Eagle) sadly died about 40 years ago. Like many grandchildren (I'm sure) who had grandparents that fought in WW2, I very much regret not spending more time with him as a child - to listen to his stories. I only found out about 5 years ago (from my father) that, after HMS Eagle was sunk my grandfather was then posted to the North Atlantic - where the ship he was serving on there was sunk too! I had no idea. Of course he survived that as well - I guess life expectancy in the cold waters of the North Atlantic would be a lot less than in the Mediterranean...
My grandad was a gunner on HMS Eagle, he was picked up by another ship in the fleet that later also was sunk and he swam the last part to Malta not wanting to take another chance, William Woods, Bill, or Woody…
My father was aboard Furious when the RAF Spitfires were launched, and Eagle was torpedoed. This was Operation Bellows, an associated convoy accompanying Pedestal. He was an Aircraft artificer with 804 Squadron at the time. He was subsequently aboard HMS Dasher with 804 during Operation Torch, the combined UK/US invasion of N Africa. Luckily he left Dasher shortly before it blew up in the Firth of Clyde with massive loss of life, due to an internal explosion. He joined HMS Glory with 1831 Squadron in the Pacific Fleet but saw no action but did witness the surrender ceremony of the southern Japanese forces, on the flight deck of Glory. Went on as a commissioned officer in the post war Fleet Air Arm.
My Dad William .J. Boardman was aboard HMS Kenya and his ship and all who took part are honoured in a museum in Valletta Harbour Malta ... I went there with my family very touching .very proud son .
My dad was on the Eagle when it was torpedoed and sank.....................he got picked up but lost a lot of crewmates. He later joined HMS Hood and saw the war out. His name was Petty Officer Harry Hanratty.
My Father, Captain Mascall RM commanded the Royal Marines Detachment on board HMS Eagle. He and the ship's Captain [Arless ?] were the last to leave, walking down the overturned hull and swimming for it. He was pulled out of the water after grabbing one of the lines thrown by a passing destroyer. Those ships couldn't heave to and launch boats for fear of being torpedoed also. Wounded crewmen who were bleeding were eaten alive by mackerel - he wouldn't eat those fish after the War. I have a photo of Eagle, sinking. Under eight minutes from first strike and she was gone.
Leaving when the flight deck is awash is pretty much what happened. Those who jumped too soon got killed when they hit the torpedo blister. That’s the hollow lump along the hull that’s supposed to protect against torpedo attacks.
Brilliant footage of the Royal allied navy and the aircrews..and to add to this..the wonderful stories and voices of the lads who performed their duty so bloody marvellously. ''Up the Navy!".."Bless Em All..The Long and The Short and The Tall." Love and Respect forever always Brit cousins, from the Aussies and Kiwis at the bottom of the globe. ✊😉✌ (/-\)
@Armoured Carriers Another great video of the Royal Navy, including the Fleet Air Arm, in WWII. The destroyers Laforey and Lookout and the tug Jaunty rescued 929 officers and ratings from HMS Eagle but 131 officers and ratings, mostly from the engine rooms, went down with the ship. Admiral Lewin was the the main man who convinced Mrs Thatcher that the Royal Navy could take back the Falkland Islands in 1982. I am really enjoying your Bilge Pump podcasts with Dr Alexander Clarke and Drachinifel on the CIMSEC website.
I think it was Sir Henry Leach who turned up to a meeting with Mrs. Thatcher in full dress uniform and argued the case for sending the Task Force, after the loathsome John Nott had claimed that nothing could be done, and the RAF had, more or less, shrugged their collective shoulders in agreement. Successive governments have, of course, successfully managed to rip the Royal Navy to pieces since 1982. The Navy, since the 1920s at least, have never been skilled at sucking up to their political masters, whereas the RAF have generally been brilliant at it. Since the Falklands, there have been 14 British Chiefs of Defence Staff, 8 from the Army, 4 from the RAF, and 2 (the last being in 2003) from the Navy.
The Italians did most of the damage. The name of the first submarine mentioned was Uarsciek , the officers eventually get machine gunned trying to surrender in another battle.
When was Eagle due for retirement? I have a mess in my head about which carrier was going to be kept and which were going to be withdrawn and when... Ark Royal I understand was meant to replace Furious, which leaves Eagle, Hermes, Glorious and Courageous. Were any of them intended to serve along the armored carriers or sraight replaced by them? Love your site btw, it is simply amazing.
What was up with that sub getting caught on the surface? geez. Probably some ways away from the convoy but still. Ramming it ensured it did not submerge before their guns hit it I guess. Squashed the bow of the destroyer and he was ... reprimanded? That sub could have taken out another carrier.
It happened again later in the convoy with HMS Ithuriel. Think about it from the convoy commander's perspective. He has a four-day fight. He has x number of hulls carrying y number of depth charges and z number of AA guns. These must be dispersed about the fleet in a screen. Each loss thins that screen out ... potentially letting more "leakers" through to the vital cargo ships. The subs couldn't keep up. So keeping them down long enough for the convoy to pass was a "mission kill". The same principle was bashed into the FAA fighter pilots: disrupt the attacks, make the attacks ineffective - the kills come secondary.
I believe the carriers need a lot of space around them so they can accellerate, turn into the wind to launch and land their planes. In the midst of the slow merchantmen this would be impossible.
@@DavidOfWhitehills Thar is correct. Eagle was on the starboard quarter of the convoy, zigzagging at around 13 knots. She had a patrol of four aircraft aloft at the time of her sinking.
It’s all about Big oil and little oil. The major restriction on the Axis was oil. Always oil. The Italians couldn’t send their battleships into action because they didn’t have enough fuel for them and the Germans refuse to give them any because they were also so short. Lose Malta then supplies reach Rommel. He gets them to the front (eventually) and he presses on. We lose Suez/Alex. We lose Middle East oil and Hitler gets all the juice he needs. Game over. Well, I think the result would have ended with either Stalin in control of continental Europe or a limited European atomic war between whoever got the bomb first - us or the Axis.
