On this day 9 April 1942
Published: 09 Apr 2014
On this day 9 April 1942 HMS Hermes sunk by Japanese naval aircraft at Batticaloa off Trincomalee.
After a raid on Colombo on 5 April by the Japanese, Hermes was sent to Trincomalee, but had left the harbour when the Japanese attacked it on 9 April. She was spotted near Batticaloa by a Japanese scout plane and attacked by several dozen dive bombers shortly afterwards.
The carrier and her escorting destroyer were quickly sunk by the Japanese aircraft. Most of the survivors were rescued by a nearby hospital ship although 307 men from Hermes were lost in the sinking.