Operation Light
{{Short description|British naval operation in World War II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War A25747.jpg making an emergency landing on board {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} following a raid on Japanese positions in Sigli, Sumatra. Its drop tank became detached and ignited.]]
{{Campaignbox Bombing of SE Asia 1944-45}}
{{Campaignbox South-East Asia}}
Operation Light was a British naval operation in World War II under the command of Rear Admiral Clement Moody.Jürgen Rohwer, Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two, page 359, 2005. The objective was to carry out aerial strikes on Japanese positions in Sigli, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, and aerial reconnaissance over the Nicobar Islands, from 16–23 September 1944.John Winton, The Forgotten Fleet, page 53, 1969. The operation was scheduled to coincide with the Allied landing at Morotai, designated Operation Tradewind, as well as the U.S. 1st Marine Division's landing at Peleliu.
Operational detail
The operation was carried out by aircraft carriers {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} and {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}}, carrying Vought F4U Corsairs, and escorted by battleship {{HMS|Howe|32|6}},M. J. Whitley, Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, page 149, 1999. cruisers {{HMS|Cumberland|57|2}}, destroyers {{HMS|Racehorse|H11|2}}, {{HMS|Raider|H15|2}}, {{HMS|Rapid|H32|2}}, {{HMS|Redoubt|H41|2}}, {{HMS|Relentless|H85|2}}, {{HMS|Rocket|H92|2}}, {{HMS|Rotherham|H09|2}}.
The raid saw a number of problems. First, due to technical inefficiencies of the aircraft carriers, Victorious was only able to launch 22 aircraft, and Indomitable took "forty minutes and two separate deckloads to dispatch just eighteen aircraft."H. P. Willmott - 1996, Grave of a Dozen Schemes: British Naval Planning and the War Against Japan, 1943–1945, p. 136, 1996. Secondly, "the Fleet Air Arm crews suffered from a lack of target intelligence, a consequence of the lack of very long range (V.L.R.) reconnaissance aircraft based in India and Ceylon."Robert Jackson, The Royal Navy in World War II, p. 120, 1997. One report of the raid states that "After the attack, the fighters roamed the area looking for the most impressive buildings in the area. These would then be machine gunned in the hope that the Japanese overlords were in residence."Andrew Thomas, Royal Navy Aces of World War 2, 2013.
References
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{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}
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Category:World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre
Category:World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre
Category:Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom
Category:Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom