Okinawa damage ends Illustrious's front-line war

Task Force 57 used Illustrious's aircraft to help neutralize airfields in the Sakishima Islands before the Okinawa invasion. She was already limited to 24 knots because vibration from earlier damage had led to removal of the centre propeller. A bomb detonating close alongside damaged aircraft and worsened vibration, although the carrier initially remained operational. Whether the lasting damage affected the hull structure or principally its plating is disputed, with accumulated plating damage offered as the more likely explanation. Divers at San Pedro Bay found split outer plating, and the ship returned to Sydney for repairs. The available facilities could not complete the work, so she returned to Britain in June 1945 for permanent repairs.