HMS Hermes

There have been two ships in the Royal Navy that have borne the name HMS Hermes. They are named for the Greek messenger god.

• The first Hermes was the first purpose built fleet aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, built just after the First World War.

• The second Hermes was the last of the postwar conventional aircraft carriers commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1959.

HMS Hermes served as the flagship of the Royal Navy taskforce that sailed to the South Atlantic in 1982 to re-capture the Falkland Isles. This group of islands were a British Crown Colony, a status disputed by the Argentinians who invaded the Falklands on 30th March 1982.

HMS Hermes was due to be decommisioned that year after a defence review by the British government, but was quickly refitted and send along with another carrier, HMS Invincible, to lead the British forces.

Hermes carried Sea Harrier jets of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, as well as a troop of SAS and Royal Marines.

Hermes faced the threat of French built Exocet missiles. It is thought that the sinking of Hermes by the Argentines would have scuppered any hopes of the British to retake the Falklands.

HMS Hermes was later sold to the Indian Navy where it still sails with a fleet of Harriers. Its next conflict may be with the Pakistanis or the Chinese, deadly foes of the Indians.