Aboard HMS Formidable, AB Ron Tovey was
looking forward to celebrating his 20th
birthday the following day, Saturday May
5.
From the carrier’s island, he watched a small brown
blob tracking along the flight deck. What a bloody silly
thing to do, the young rating thought to himself.
“ Looking down, I realised that I was looking at the top of a Zero with
its red circles,” he recalled.
“ We watched as it reached astern of the island and put its nose down,
which gave us the feeling that it was aimed at us.
“ As it dived at us, by now I think on fire, we dived for the deck.
“ As I went down I was aware of a tremendous explosion and a sheet of smoke
and flame passing overhead as the deck came up and hit me under the chin.”
Perhaps the defining image
of a kamikaze attack: Sailors in HMS Formidable
deal with the aftermath of a suicide attack
on May 4 1945
In
an instant, eight lives were extinguished
and 47 more of Ron Tovey’s shipmates
were wounded. Eleven aircraft on the flight
deck were incinerated, all but one of Formidable’s
radar sets was knocked out.
With typical RN understatement Lt Geoffrey Brooke, Formidable’s
flight deck officer, wrote home:
“ We’re having a fairly tough time out here, but it’s good
fun in some ways.
“ The wonderful news of the war in Europe being over, I’m afraid
it doesn’t mean much out here – at least not as much as it might.”
From his flagship, King George V, Admiral Rawlings watched
a plume of smoke rise on the horizon. The admiral, war reporter
David Divine observed, “was in a considerable state”.
Divine continued: “There he was and there they were – being
hit, and he wasn’t there. He was very sober and very
quiet about it, but you could see he was deeply moved by
the whole thing. So was I.”
Within six hours, aircraft could land once more on Formidable.
Armoured flight decks proved the British carrier’s
saving grace – and spared hundreds of lives.
“ When a kamikaze hits a US carrier, it’s six months’ repair
at Pearl,” one American liaison officer observed bitterly. “In a
Limey carrier it’s a case of ‘Sweepers, man your brooms.’”
The suicide attack on HMS
Formidable on May 4 1945 seen from the carrier's
escorts
Five
days later, it was Victorious’ turn;
two kamikazes hit the carrier in rapid succession.
“ Not only did the kamikaze have the Vic in its sights, but it had me too – this
bloody thing was coming straight for me,” PO Jim Dodds remembered.
“ I made myself as small a target as possible, eyes squeezed tightly shut,
I awaited the final bang and explosion. This was it then. No panic. Surprisingly
calm as a matter of fact amidst the din.”
The seconds passed. Jim Dodds opened his eyes. Vic had turned.
The kamikaze was no longer aimed at him. No, it careered
into Corsairs lined up on the flight deck aft before disappearing
over the side in a ball of flames.
A minute later, concerted fire from HMS Howe, Victorious
and Formidable brought a Zeke down in a fireball just off
the battleship’s quarterdeck.
The last suicide strike of the day hit Formidable once more,
smashing Corsairs and Avengers lined up on her flight deck
and sending fuel cascading into the hangar, where it ignited.
Despite the devastation – the scenes were remarkably
similar to those five days previously – within 15 minutes,
the flames had been doused.
