Admiral Beez
Major
This thread got me thinking.... had the will existed and in 1940-41 Hermes was sent on multiple runs to Vancouver to pickup CC&F Hawker Hurricanes for the I/PTO (Malaya, Ceylon, Burma, Australia, etc), and on the assumption that flight ops are canceled the CAG left behind at RNAS Singapore, how many crated or wings-stored Hurricanes can we fit onto Hermes?
If we start with Malaya, with Vancouver being 6,930 nmi away from Singapore, and Pearl Harbour at 5,845 nmi, and with Hermes' range of 5,600 nmi at 10 knots (4,480 nmi at 16 knots) we'll need to split each Hurricane pick-up into three stages. 1,390 nmi Singapore to Hong Kong, 4,840 nmi Hong Kong to Pearl Harbour, then 2,360 nmi to Vancouver. Of course Japan will notice Hermes running back and forth at Hong Kong with full decks, so get it done well before summer 1941. Maybe such an overt British display of interest and resolve isn't a bad thing.
So, how many Hurricanes can we fit on the 570ft flight deck and 16ft narrow 400ft hangar of HMS Hermes? Keep in mind that Hermes flight deck is sharply narrowed forward and rounded down aft. Here's HMS Premier with forty-two Vought Corsairs on her 440ft flight deck. With a total distance of nearly 8,600 nmi each way, or 35 days at 10 knots (22 days at 16 knots) we'd best squeeze as many Hurricanes as possible per trip.
Here's Hermes.
If we start with Malaya, with Vancouver being 6,930 nmi away from Singapore, and Pearl Harbour at 5,845 nmi, and with Hermes' range of 5,600 nmi at 10 knots (4,480 nmi at 16 knots) we'll need to split each Hurricane pick-up into three stages. 1,390 nmi Singapore to Hong Kong, 4,840 nmi Hong Kong to Pearl Harbour, then 2,360 nmi to Vancouver. Of course Japan will notice Hermes running back and forth at Hong Kong with full decks, so get it done well before summer 1941. Maybe such an overt British display of interest and resolve isn't a bad thing.
So, how many Hurricanes can we fit on the 570ft flight deck and 16ft narrow 400ft hangar of HMS Hermes? Keep in mind that Hermes flight deck is sharply narrowed forward and rounded down aft. Here's HMS Premier with forty-two Vought Corsairs on her 440ft flight deck. With a total distance of nearly 8,600 nmi each way, or 35 days at 10 knots (22 days at 16 knots) we'd best squeeze as many Hurricanes as possible per trip.
Here's Hermes.
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