Operation Cockpit attacks Sabang's shore facilities

Illustrious joined USS Saratoga for Operation Cockpit against Japanese facilities after returning to the Indian Ocean in 1944. Her air group contained twenty-one Barracudas and twenty-eight Corsairs, with seventeen Barracudas and thirteen Corsairs taking part in the first attack. American aircraft concentrated on harbour shipping while the British force attacked shore installations. The Barracudas destroyed oil-storage tanks and badly damaged port facilities, while twenty-four aircraft were destroyed on the ground. Aerial opposition was slight and every British aircraft returned safely, although one American fighter ditched on the return flight.