X-RAY MAGAZINE FEATURE

HMS Hermes Wreck

One of the things I value the most about planning specialized wreck diving trips around the world is not only getting an opportunity to dive these sites, but also getting totally immersed in the history and circumstances that put these steel hulks at the bottom of the ocean. The more I read and learn about the bravery and heroism of the people who died in fierce battle during these conflicts, the more I am humbled by diving these graveyards of the deep.

Words:
Pete Mesley
Images:
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Wrecks & Archaeology

Hermes was no different. On 5 April 1942, HMS Hermes and the destroyer HMAS Vampire were sent to Trincomalee in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) to prepare for Operation Ironclad, the British invasion of Madagascar during World War II. After advance warning of a Japanese air raid on 9 April 1942, the vessels left Trincomalee and sailed south down the Ceylon coast before the air raid arrived.

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