People from the British Isles are often seen as stiff conservatives
who are skeptical about everything new,
be it science, technology, or art.
Nevertheless, it was the British who discovered
the law of universal gravitation,
invented football, and formed the Sex Pistols.
The same is true of armored aircraft carriers,
one of which I'm about to introduce you to.
Great Britain was the first to build them.
Please welcome—Indomitable!
In 1936, sir Reginald Henderson, the Third Lord of the British Admiralty
and former aircraft carrier captain,
was in charge of designing new ships.
He proposed the construction of a new class of carrier ship
which would have her deck and hangar protected by armor.
This had never been done before in the history of shipbuilding,
and the British admiral offered the following reasoning
to back up his idea.
The main operational areas of British aircraft carriers
would be the Mediterranean and North Sea,
where they were likely to be attacked
by land-based aviation of potential enemies.
This meant that the ship had to withstand direct hits from aerial bombs
and, by doing so, keep its main weapon—aircraft—intact.
In the end, Whitehall decided that it was better to have fewer planes onboard
at the cost of keeping them safe with more resilient armor.
Her armor protection was designed to withstand hits of 1,000-pound bombs
dropped from altitudes of less than 1,300 meters.
In total, four of these "armored carriers" were built,
with the entire class named after the lead ship—HMS Illustrious.
HMS Indomitable was the last in the series.
By the way, in contrast to her three sister ships,
naval engineers managed to add another hangar,
which increased the number of planes onboard by one third.
As a result, Indomitable was capable of accommodating 48 planes,
as opposed to 36 carried by the other Illustrious-class ships.
In our game, carrier Indomitable resides at Tier VIII
and carries British Sea Hornet aircraft.
The main distinctive features of these vehicles
are their high speeds and large combat capability reserves.
This allows your aircraft to quickly reach their target,
adroitly evade any anti-aircraft fire
by maneuvering in a dashing fashion between shell explosions,
and leave the engagement area with minimal losses.
Indomitable doesn't have any torpedo bombers,
only attack aircraft and bombers.
A bomber squadron consists of four aircraft.
This means that one flight has the capability
to carry out two attack runs on a target,
with two planes in each run.
Attack aircraft squadrons allow for three runs,
with two planes taking part in each.
British bombers drop a large number of relatively small bombs
from a horizontal flight position.
If you calculate your attack correctly,
you'll be able to cover your enemy with a fiery blanket
that leave them very hot and uncomfortable.
Even if your target tries to dodge your attack,
they won't be able to avoid damage from your bombs completely.
To sum up, Indomitable is a true gift for all aircraft carrier enthusiasts:
she's a ship with strong armor and fast, sturdy planes.
Let’s conclude with one curious fact.
The strength of Indomitable’s armor was put to the test
at the end of World War II in the Pacific Ocean:
a Japanese kamikaze crashed into her deck,
but the impact only made a small dent on its surface.
Good luck, Captains!