When Charles Lamb landed, he found the forward deck park full of Swordfish that had returned ahead of him, overturning his fear that his crew was alone. The crews had spent roughly six and a half hours reaching the target, attacking, finding their carrier and landing. Dedicated observers had shared the work of navigating after a demanding night flight. Only one returning aircraft had a slight landing accident: its pilot opened the throttle too far and bumped the aircraft ahead. The recovery depended on trained crews and the navigation and landing arrangements available to them.
Notable Point · 1:23:28-1:28:10
Six-and-a-half-hour sorties end with one minor landing accident
After roughly six and a half hours in the air, the returning crews found Illustrious and landed with just one minor deck collision.