HMS Hermes

The  HMS Hermes was a British aircraft carrier. It also had the distinction of being the Royal Navy's first aircraft carrier. Hermes was the worlds first aircraft carrier, as she was launched on 11 September 1919. However she was not commissioned until 1923, allowing the IJN Hōshō the honour of being the first aircraft carreir to be commissioned.

Hermes in Days of Infamy
During Admiral Nagumo's ndian Ocean raid, the Hermes was in harbour at Trincomalee, [Ceylon, undergoing repairs. Advance warning of a Japanese air raid allowed her to leave port, but as she returned following the raid on 9 April 1942, she was spotted off Batticaloa by a Japanese reconnaissance plane. Lacking planes of her own, she was defenceless when she was attacked by 70 Japanese bombers. Hit 40 times, Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men.

During the ocupation of Hawaii, Elsie Sundberg witnessed Japanese news fottage of the Hermes sinking while at the movies with Kenzo Takahashi.