Hermes and the destroyer Vampire left Trincomalee without the carrier's aircraft after warning of the April 1942 Japanese raid, but reconnaissance from Haruna found them off Ceylon. The British intercepted the spotting report and ordered the ships back toward fighter cover. Eighty-five D3A dive bombers attacked with Zero escorts, and 32 bombers had already attacked before the first defending Fulmars arrived. Hermes sank with 307 men, including her captain, while the hospital ship Vita rescued most survivors from the two warships. The carrier had no onboard fighters, only one escort, and no surrounding task group capable of breaking up the strike before it reached her. Damage control could not compensate for that exposure. HMS Unicorn later led escort-carrier strike groups in a role proposed as a better use for Hermes, although Unicorn's maintenance and repair facilities made her better equipped for it.
Notable Point · 1:18:00-1:26:23
Hermes without aircraft or a carrier task group
HMS Hermes demonstrates the limits of damage control when a carrier without embarked fighters or an adequate escort group is found by a massed air strike.