 |
Crest: Messenger of the Gods. Blue; the head of Hermes (Mercury) with winged helmet all gold. Motto: "Altiora
peto" - "I seek higher things" |
There has been ten ships of the
Royal Navy bearing the name Hermes.
First Second
Third Fourth
Fifth Sixth
Seventh Eighth
Ninth Tenth
The first Hermes
HERMES - Brig Sloop 16 guns 1796-1797 Ex Dutch
Mercuris
| Armament | 14 X 6 pounders or | |
| 14 X 24 pounder carronades + 2 X 6 pounders |
| Length of gun deck | 100' | |
| Beam | 28' 5" | |
| Displacement | 331 tons | |
| Complement | 76 |
| Length of gun deck | 107' | |
| Length of keel | 84' 3" | |
| Beam | 27' 6" | |
| Depth of hold | 12' 9" | |
| Displacement | 339 tons | |
| Armament | ||
| Upper deck | 14 X 24 pounder carronades | |
| Forecastle | 2 X 6 pounders | |
| Complement | 100 |
| Length of gun deck | 119' 10" | |
| Length of keel | 99' 105/8" | |
| Beam | 30' 11" | |
| Depth of hold | 8' 7" | |
| Armament | ||
| Upper deck | 2 X 9 pounders + 18 X 32 pounder carronades | |
| Complement | 135 | |
| Built by | Portsmouth Dockyard | |
| Ordered | 1810 | |
| Keel laid | May 1810 | |
| Launched | 22nd July 1811 |
| Length of gun deck | 169' 6" | |
| Length of keel | 138' 11¼" | |
| Beam | 47' 4" | |
| Depth of hold | 20' 3" | |
| Displacement | 1656 tons | |
| Armament | ||
| Gun deck | 28 X 32 pounders | |
| Upper deck | 28 X 18 pounders | |
| Quarterdeck | 14 X 9 pounders | |
| Forecastle | 4 X 9 pounders | |
| Complement | 500 | |
| Built by | Chatham Dockyard | |
| Ordered | 3rd December 1811 | |
| Keel laid | December 1812 | |
| Launched | 15th April 1816 |
| Displacement | 5600 tons | |
| Length | 372' | |
| Beam | 54' | |
| Draught | 22' | |
| Machinery | 2 shafts, 4 cylinders, triple expansion | |
| 18 Belleville boilers, reboilered with Babcock boilers 1902-03. 10000 horsepower | ||
| Speed | 20 knots | |
| Armament | 11 X 6" | |
| 9 X 12 pounders | ||
| 6 X 3 pounders | ||
| Torpedo tubes | 2 X 18" submerged | |
| Complement | 450 | |
| Built by | Fairfield, Govan | |
| Laid down | 30th April 1897 | |
| Launched | 7th April 1898 | |
| Completed | 5th October 1899 |
| 1899 - 1901 | Flagship North America & West Indies | |
| 1901 - 1903 | Refitted with Babcock boilers, Harland & Wolf, Belfast | |
| 1903 - 1904 | Channel | |
| 1904 | Portsmouth | |
| 1906 - 1907 | Flagship East Indies | |
| 1907 - 1913 | Flagship Cape | |
| 1913 | 3rd Fleet at the Nore | |
| 1913 | Converted to an Aircraft Dept Ship at Chatham | |
| 1913 | Trials | |
| 1914 | 3rd Fleet at the Nore | |
| Aug 1914 | Re-converted for cruiser duties | |
| 1915 | Nore Command | |
| 13th Oct 1914 | Torpedoed by U27 in the Straights of Dover. 44 lost |
| Displacement | 10850 tons standard | |
| 13700 tons full load | ||
| Length | 600' overall | |
| Beam | 90' | |
| Draught | 26' 7" | |
| Machinery | 2 shafts Pearson geared turbines; 40000 shaft horsepower | |
| Speed | 25 knots | |
| Armament | 6 single 5½" | |
| 3 single 4" | ||
| 2 quadruple ½" | ||
| Aircraft | 12 in 1939 | |
| Complement | 700 | |
| Built by | Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and completed by Devonport Dockyard | |
| Laid down | 15th January 19 | |
| Launched | 11th September 1919 | |
| Completed | 18th February 1924 |
| Displacement | 24900 tons standard | |
| 27800 tons full load | ||
| Length | 744' 3" overall | |
| Beam | 147' 11" | |
| Draught | 27' 10" | |
| Machinery | 2 Parsons geared turbines; 4 Admiralty 3 drum boilers; 76000 shaft horsepower | |
| Speed | 28 knots | |
| Armament | 2 quadruple GWS. 22 Seacat SAM (8) | |
| 4 single 3 pounder saluting guns | ||
| Aircraft | 28 | |
| Complement | 2100 | |
| Built by | Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness | |
| Laid down | 21st June 1944 | |
| Launched | 16th February 1953 | |
| Completed | 18th November 1959 |
History:
HERMES construction was suspended in 1945 and resumed in 1952 to clear the
slipway. She was laid up after launch until 1957 when work started again to
a revised design.
25 November 1959 Commissioned at Portsmouth
July 1960 Mediterranean for work up
7 November 1960 UK for Self Maintenance Period
24 February 1961 Exercise Jet 61 off Trincomalee
16 October 1961 Portsmouth for refit
May 1962 Sea trials then Mediterranean
5 October 1962 Returned to Portsmouth
Sailed for Far East Fleet November 1962
29 August 1963 Arrived back in UK after Ship Maintenance Period in Mombasa
24 February 1964 Devonport Dockyard for refit
13 January 1967 Sailed for Mediterranean
June 1967 Joined Far East Fleet
2 October 1967 Returned to the UK for docking at Portsmouth
August 1968 Re-joined the Far East Fleet
April 1969 Portsmouth for docking
2 September 1969 Joined Western Fleet
14 July 1970 Paid off into care and maintenance
October 1970 Towed to Devonport for conversion to a Commando carrier
Hermes in her role as a Commando Carrier in
1973
Recommissioned at Devonport 18 August 1973
June 1974 Commando training in Canada
July 1974 Evacuated 900 British nationals from Cyprus during fighting between
Greek and Turkish Forces
25 February 1975 Sailed from Devonport
28 November 1975 Docking and maintenance at Devonport
10 December 1976 Recommissioned at Devonport
June 1977 Silver Jubilee Review at Spithead
1978 and 1979 Exercises and Sea Harrier Trials
1980 and 1981 Ski-jump fitted at Portsmouth
June 1981 Harrier Trials
March 1982 SMP at Portsmouth
5 April 1982 Sailed as flagship of the South Atlantic Task Force
Returning from the South Atlantic 1982
21 July 1982 Returned to Portsmouth
Early 1983 Exercises in Norway-USA-Mediterranean
December 1983 Refit at Portsmouth
Purchased by India and refitted for Indian Navy in Devonport 1986
Early 1987 Renamed VIRAAT and sailed to form part of the Indian Navy Western
Fleet. Remains in the Indian Fleet as 2001
Hermes at Portsmouth waiting to be towed to
Plymouth having been sold to India.
I joined HMS Hermes on the 29th
November 1971 whilst the ship was in refit in Devonport and served in her
until 19th March 1975. The refit lasted until 1973. On July
19th 1973 Hermes was given the freedom of Tiverton. The Re-Commissioning
took place in Devonport on Saturday 18th August 1973.
Sea training and trials took us up to the end
of September 1973 and then up to Rosyth to take part in exercise Swiftmove.
This took the ship to Oslo in October before returning to Devonport in November.
The 5th November once again saw us on our way to Rosyth and
then back to Devonport for Christmas leave.
In January 1974 Hermes helped in the search
for the missing trawler Gaul, then sailed down to Portsmouth to load stores
before moving on to Norway for an exercise, returning to Rosyth in March.
For all our hard labours we had a week in Hamburg, back home then off to Malta
for five weeks - then on to a large exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean,
back to Malta to pick up the Royal Marines then off to Canada first to St
Johns then to Halifax. After all this we head down to Bermuda which in June
is not a bad place to be - then back to St Johns to re-embark the Royals and
off we went to New York. Whilst here had a couple of days in Niagara at the
falls and what a sight that was - not be missed.
We left New York in rather a hurry as trouble
between Turkey and Greece had reached a very low point. We arrive off Cyprus
on the 17th July 1974 to help in an way that were required
to. The most important thing was to get all civilian personal to safety.
