fbpx
Wikipedia

HMS Ark Royal (91)

HMS Ark Royal (pennant number 91) was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that was operated during the Second World War.

HMS Ark Royal in 1939, with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron passing overhead
Class overview
Preceded byCourageous class
Succeeded byIllustrious class
History
United Kingdom
NameArk Royal
NamesakeArk Royal (1587)
Ordered1934 build programme
BuilderCammell Laird
Laid down16 September 1935
Launched13 April 1937
Commissioned16 December 1938
IdentificationPennant number: 91
MottoDesire n'a pas Repos – "Zeal Does Not Rest"
Honours and
awards
FateSunk by U-81, 14 November 1941
General characteristics
TypeAircraft Carrier
Displacement
Length
Beam94 ft 9.6 in (28.895 m)
Draught27 ft 9.6 in (8.473 m)
Installed power
Propulsion3 × shafts; 3 × geared steam turbines
Speed
  • 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) as designed
  • 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) actual
Range7,600 nmi (14,100 km; 8,700 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement1,580 officers and ratings
Armament
Armour
  • Belt: 4.5 in (11.4 cm)
  • Deck: 3.5 in (8.9 cm) over boiler rooms and magazines
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilities2 × catapults

Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers. Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she had two hangar deck levels. She was used during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; several carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal.

Ark Royal operated in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War. She was involved in the first aerial U-boat kills of the war, operations off Norway, the search for the German battleship Bismarck, and the Malta Convoys. Ark Royal survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a 'lucky ship'. She was torpedoed on 13 November 1941 by the German submarine U-81 and sank the following day. One of her 1,488 crew members was killed. Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries, with investigators keen to know how the carrier was lost in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar. They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss, which were rectified in new British carriers.

The wreck was discovered in December 2002 by an American underwater survey company using sonar mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle, under contract from the BBC for the filming of a documentary about the ship, at a depth of about 3,300 feet (1,000 m) and approximately 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) from Gibraltar.

Design

In 1923, the Admiralty prepared a 10-year building programme which included an aircraft carrier and 300 aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm.[3] The economic downturn following the First World War caused it to be postponed. In 1930, the Director of Naval Construction, Sir Arthur Johns, began to update the plans for the carrier by incorporating recently developed technology.[3] His aim was to increase the number of aircraft carried by shortening the landing and take-off distances of aircraft using arrestor gear and compressed steam catapults respectively, which would make more deck space available for storage and aircraft preparation.[3][4] Along with the inclusion of two hangar decks, this allowed Ark Royal to carry up to 72 aircraft, although the development of larger and heavier aircraft during the carrier's construction meant that the actual number carried was between 50 and 60.[5] Ark Royal featured an enclosed hangar design[6] where the flight deck was the 'strength deck'[7] and was strongly built with .75in (19mm) thick Ducol steel plating. The two hangar decks were thus enclosed within the hull girder, which also gave splinter protection to the hangars. The machinery spaces were protected by 4.5-inch (11.4 cm) belt armour.[4] Three lifts moved aircraft between the hangars and the flight deck.[4]

 
Ark Royal's flight deck overhung the stern. Her unusual height above the waterline is visible in comparison with the tugboat.

Another feature was the length and height of the flight deck. At 800 feet (240 m), the flight deck was 118 feet (36 m) longer than the keel; the latter dictated by the length of Royal Navy drydocks in Gibraltar and Malta.[4] Due to the twin hangar decks, the flight deck rose to 66 feet (20 m) above the waterline.[8]

The Washington and London Naval treaties had restricted warship displacement for a number of nations after the end of the Great War and were both to expire by the end of 1936.[a] With a potential naval arms race developing between Britain, Japan and Italy, the British government sought a second treaty, which included limiting the maximum displacement of an aircraft carrier to 23,000 long tons (23,000 t). Ark Royal would have to fit this anticipated limit; to conserve weight, armour plating was limited to the belt, engine rooms, and magazines, while welding instead of rivetting 65% of the hull saved 500 long tons (510 t).[9] Installation of an armoured flight deck was not possible, as the weight would have placed Ark Royal above the proposed limit, while reducing her endurance and stability.[9] The ship was designed with a three-layer side protection system based upon a void-liquid-void scheme very similar to that used on the King George V-class battleships, and was designed to protect against torpedoes with up to a 750-pound (340 kg) warhead.[10][11]

The ship was fitted with six boilers, which powered three Parsons geared turbines. The turbines were connected via three driveshafts to three propellers 16 feet (4.9 m) in diameter, to produce a maximum theoretical speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).[12][13] Speed was important, as with catapults and arrestor gear, Ark Royal would have to turn into the wind to launch and recover aircraft. To avoid endangering other ships with the frequent course changes associated with flight operations, Ark Royal would have to break away from accompanying ships, and catch up on completion. Additionally, as the carrier was not armed for ship-to-ship combat, speed was her main protection against enemy warships.[3]

Construction

The deteriorating international situation by 1933, typified by Germany's rearmament and the expansion of Japan and Italy, convinced the British to announce funds for the carrier's construction in the 1934 budget proposals.[14] The plans were finished by November 1934 and were tendered in February 1935 to Cammell Laird and Company Ltd., which calculated the cost of the hull at £1,496,250 (equivalent to £110,500,000 in 2021)[15] and the main machinery at approximately £500,000 (equivalent to £36,925,826 in 2021).[12][16] The overall cost was estimated to be over £3 million (equivalent to £222 million in 2021), making Ark Royal the most expensive non-battleship ordered by the Royal Navy.[17] Construction began on Job No. 1012 when Ark Royal's keel was laid down on 16 September 1935.[18]

 
Ark Royal immediately after launching. The lifts on the flight deck and the anti-aircraft positions on the hull are visible.

Ark Royal spent nearly two years in the builder's yard before being launched on 13 April 1937 by Lady Maud Hoare, wife of Sir Samuel Hoare, then First Lord of the Admiralty. The bottle of champagne thrown against Ark Royal's bows did not smash until the fourth attempt.[19] The carrier spent a year fitting out, was handed over to her first commander, Captain Arthur Power, on 16 November 1938, and was commissioned on 16 December.[18] Although intended for the Far East, events in Europe during the carrier's construction, including the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936, caused the Admiralty to mark her for deployment with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets.[20] After her crew joined at the end of 1938, Ark Royal underwent sea trials to prepare for service, during which the carrier proved capable of sailing above her theoretical speed, reaching over 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)[8] and in trials during May 1938 Ark Royal achieved 31.2 knots (57.8 km/h; 35.9 mph) with 103,012 shaft horsepower (76,816 kW) at a deep displacement of 27,525 long tons (27,967 t).[21]

Armament and aircraft

Ark Royal's armament was designed with anti-aircraft warfare in mind, as aircraft were expected to be the main threat; ships and submarines could be outrun or dealt with by escorts.[22][23] Her main armament was sixteen quick-firing 4.5-inch (110 mm) dual purpose guns in eight double turrets, four on each side of the hull, controlled by four Directors using the High Angle Control System.[4] The original design placed the turrets low on the hull, but was later altered to locate them just below the flight deck, which increased each turret's field of fire.[4] Six[2] 8-barrelled 2-pounder (40-millimetre (1.57 in)) "pom-pom" guns were located on the flight deck, in front of and behind the superstructure island, while eight 4-barrelled .50-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns were installed on small projecting platforms to the front and rear of the flight deck.[24]

Sixteen Fleet Air Arm squadrons were posted aboard Ark Royal during her career; an average of five squadrons at any time. On entering service, most of Ark Royal's squadrons were equipped with either Blackburn Skuas—used as fighters and dive bombers—or Fairey Swordfish, for reconnaissance and torpedo bombing. From April 1940, squadrons equipped with Skuas were upgraded to Fairey Fulmars; like their predecessors, these were used as fighters and bombers. On occasion, the carrier operated Blackburn Roc fighter-bombers (from April 1939 – October 1940) and Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers (during October 1941); these were replacement aircraft used to boost squadron numbers.[25] In June 1940, Ark Royal was host to 701 Naval Air Squadron, a training squadron which operated Supermarine Walrus reconnaissance amphibians.[26]

Squadrons embarked aboard Ark Royal
Squadron Aircraft operated Embarked (from – to) Notes
800 Blackburn Skua Mk. II January 1939 – April 1941 Transferred to Victorious
810 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I January 1939 – September 1941
820 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I January 1939 – June 1941
821 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I January 1939 – April 1940 Removed from operational service following losses against Scharnhorst
803 Blackburn Skua Mk. II
Blackburn Roc Mk. I
April 1939 – October 1940
818 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I August–October 1939
June–July 1940
Operated from Furious and land bases between October 1939 and June 1940
801 Blackburn Skua Mk. II April–May 1940 Transferred to Furious
807 Fairey Fulmar Mk. II April–November 1941 Embarked at sinking
701 Supermarine Walrus Mk. I June 1940 Training squadron
808 Fairey Fulmar Mk. II September 1940 – November 1941 Embarked at sinking
821X Fairey Swordfish Mk. I December 1940 – January 1941 Flight assembled from 821 Squadron survivors, later absorbed into 815 Squadron
800Y Fairey Fulmar Mk. I June 1941 Flight from 800 Squadron
825 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I June–November 1941 Embarked at sinking
816 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I July–November 1941 Embarked at sinking
812 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I September–November 1941 Embarked at sinking
828 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I
Fairey Albacore Mk. I
October 1941 Redeployed to Malta

Service history

With the hunter-killer groups

 
The message sent to the ship informing her of the commencing of hostilities on 3 September 1939

The outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 had been presaged by Germany's U-boat fleet taking up positions off the British coast, where they could intercept British shipping.[27] Within hours of the war starting, the passenger ship SS Athenia was torpedoed by U-30, the first of over 65,000 tons of shipping sunk by U-boats during the first week of the war.[27][28] Ark Royal was deployed with the Home Fleet in the North Western Approaches as part of a "hunter-killer" group, consisting of a flotilla of destroyers and other anti-submarine vessels grouped around an aircraft carrier; either Courageous, Hermes or Ark Royal. Carrier-borne aircraft could increase the area searched for U-boats, but made the carriers tempting targets.[28]

On 14 September, Ark Royal received a distress call from SS Fanad Head, which was 200 nautical miles (230 mi; 370 km) away under pursuit from the surfaced U-30.[29] Ark Royal launched aircraft to aid the merchant ship, but was spotted by U-39, which launched two torpedoes.[29][30] Lookouts spotted the torpedo tracks and Ark Royal turned towards the attack, reducing her cross-section and causing the torpedoes to miss and explode harmlessly astern.[28] Three F-class destroyers escorting the carrier began to depth charge U-39, and forced her to the surface.[30] The German crew abandoned ship before U-39 sank—the first U-boat lost during the war.[30] Ark Royal's aircraft reached Fanad Head, which was in the hands of a German boarding party.[29] The Skuas unsuccessfully attacked U-30: two crashed when caught by the blast of their own bombs.[29] The U-boat escaped after rescuing the boarding party and the pilots of the downed aircraft (both observers had drowned), and torpedoing the Fanad Head.[29]

Ark Royal returned to base in Loch Ewe, where she and her crew were inspected by Winston Churchill. The sinking of U-39 was hailed as important to morale. However, the failed attack on Ark Royal, and the successful attack on Courageous on 17 September, convinced the Admiralty it was too dangerous to risk aircraft carriers in this way, and carrier-centred hunter-killer groups were abandoned.[28]

Another near miss

 
Ark Royal conducting flying operations in 1939

On 25 September 1939, Ark Royal helped rescue the submarine Spearfish, which had been damaged by German warships off Horn Reefs, in the Kattegat.[31] While returning to port with Spearfish and the battleships Nelson and Rodney on 26 September, the ships were located by three Luftwaffe Dornier Do 18 seaplanes.[12] Ark Royal launched three Blackburn Skuas to disperse them; one Dornier was shot down in an event propagandised as first British aerial kill of the war (later it was learned that the pilot of a Fairey Battle achieved the first kill.[22]

The air commander aboard Ark Royal—aware that the surviving Dorniers would report the location of the British ships—ordered the aircraft to be secured and the anti-aircraft weapons readied.[32] Four Junkers Ju 88 bombers[33] of the Luftwaffe bomber wing KG 30 soon appeared: three were driven away by anti-aircraft fire, but the fourth launched a 2,200-pound (1,000 kg) bomb at the carrier. Ark Royal turned hard to starboard, heeling over and avoiding the bomb, which landed in the ocean 100 feet (30 m) off her starboard bow and sent a spout of water over the ship. The German pilots did not see if the carrier had been hit, and a reconnaissance flight later located the two battleships, but not Ark Royal. Based on this information, the Germans incorrectly claimed that Ark Royal had sunk.[34] To prove the German propaganda false before it had a negative effect on Britain's allies, Winston Churchill reassured United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the carrier was undamaged and invited the US naval attaché to view Ark Royal in dock.[34] The British naval attaché in Rome was instructed to assure Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini that the ship was still in service.[34] This was an embarrassment for Goebbels and Nazi propaganda.[35]

Hunting the Graf Spee

In October 1939, Ark Royal was redeployed to Freetown to operate off the African coast in the hunt for the German commerce raider Admiral Graf Spee. The carrier was assigned to Force K, and sailed with the battlecruiser Renown to the South Atlantic.[12] On 9 October, aircraft from Ark Royal spotted the German tanker Altmark, which supplied Graf Spee. The tanker was disguised as the US vessel Delmar, which fooled the British into passing her by.[36] On 5 November, Ark Royal captured the German merchant SS Uhenfels, which was attempting to reach Germany. The ship was later taken into British service as a cargo ship[37] and renamed Empire Ability.[38] Several neutral merchant ships were also spotted by the carrier's aircraft, twice causing crews to believe they were under attack and abandon ship.[39] A note explaining the situation was dropped in a bag to a Norwegian vessel's crew, and they re-boarded; an attempt to repeat this exercise with a Belgian crew failed when the bag was dropped down the ship's funnel.[39]

On December 14, 1939, Graf Spee had put into Montevideo to repair damage received during the battle of the River Plate. Two Royal Navy cruisers followed the raider, and patrolled the harbour entrance while reporting Graf Spee's position to the fleet. Ark Royal and Renown were dispatched to join the British ships outside the harbour, but as they were 36 hours away, the British naval attaché came up with a plan to make the Germans believe that the two capital ships had already arrived. An order for fuel for Ark Royal was placed at Buenos Aires, 140 miles (230 km) west of Montevideo. This was leaked to the press, passed on to the German embassy in Montevideo, and given to Graf Spee's captain, Hans Langsdorff.[40] This contributed to Langsdorff's decision to scuttle his ship.[40]

Return to the fleet

With Graf Spee sunk, Ark Royal remained in the Atlantic for a short time before escorting the damaged heavy cruiser Exeter back to Devonport Dockyard, where they arrived in February.[12] Following this, Ark Royal proceeded to Portsmouth to take on supplies and personnel, before sailing to Scapa Flow. On arrival, she transferred her Blackburn Skuas to Naval Air Station Hatston to strengthen the anchorage's defences.[41] Ark Royal was then assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet for exercises, departing Scapa Flow on 31 March 1940 and heading for Alexandria with the aircraft carrier Glorious.[12] The carriers arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on 8 April, but the exercises were cancelled a day later. The ships sailed to Gibraltar to await orders.[41]

German forces had invaded Norway as part of Operation Weserübung on 9 April, and had secured sections of the coast. Attempts by the Royal Navy to operate in support of British troops were unsuccessful; air attacks had overwhelmed the ships, sinking Gurkha and nearly sinking Suffolk. Realising that the British ships required air cover, but aware that the Norwegian coast was outside the range of British land-based aircraft, the Admiralty recalled Ark Royal and Glorious from the Mediterranean on 16 April.[41]

Norwegian campaign

Ark Royal and Glorious arrived at Scapa Flow on 23 April 1940 and were immediately redeployed as part of Operation DX, sailing to Norway with the cruisers Curlew and Berwick and screened by the destroyers Hyperion, Hereward, Hasty, Fearless, Fury and Juno. This was the first time the Royal Navy had deployed carriers with the primary purpose of providing fighter protection for other warships.[12] The ships took up position on 25 April off the coast; Ark Royal positioned 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) offshore to reduce the chance of air attacks. The carrier's aircraft conducted anti-submarine patrols, provided fighter support for other ships, and carried out strikes against shipping and shore targets.[12][25] Ark Royal returned to Scapa Flow on 27 April to refuel and replace lost and damaged aircraft, before heading back on the same day with the battleship Valiant as escort.[12] During the return, Ark Royal came under air attack from German Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 bombers operating from Norway. The carrier was undamaged, and resumed position on 29 April.[42]

 
A Blackburn Skua landing on Ark Royal. The Skuas were the mainstay of the Fleet Air Arm during the early Second World War. Also visible are the arrestor wires strung across the flight deck.

By this point, the British high command had realised that they could not hold the Germans in southern Norway. The evacuation of Allied troops from Molde and Åndalsnes began, with Ark Royal providing air cover from 30 April. On 1 May, the Germans tried to sink the carrier, with numerous air attacks through the day. Ark Royal's fighters and a heavy anti-aircraft barrage drove off the enemy, and although several bombs were dropped at the carrier, none hit.[42] The evacuations of Molde and Andalsnes were completed on 3 May, and the carrier was recalled to Scapa Flow to refuel and rearm. While in port, Captain Arthur Power left the ship for a promotion to the Admiralty, and was replaced by Captain Cedric Holland.[43] On return to Norway, Ark Royal was told to provide air cover for operations around Narvik, including the landing of French troops on 13 May.[44] She was joined on 18 May by the carriers Glorious and Furious.[12]

Despite these efforts, it was clear by the end of May that French forces were on the verge of collapse and Norway was a sideshow compared to the German advance to the English Channel.[44] Operation Alphabet was instigated to move Allied troops from Narvik to Britain. Ark Royal and Glorious—screened by the destroyers Highlander, Diana, Acasta, Ardent, and Acheron—sailed from Scapa Flow on 1 June to cover the evacuation, which commenced the next day. Ark Royal carried out air patrols and bombing raids from 3–6 June, before redeploying to Narvik on 7 June. The next day, Glorious, Acasta and Ardent were sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while heading back to Britain. Ark Royal's aircraft failed to locate the German ships, which had returned to Trondheim.[45]

The last evacuation convoy left Narvik on 9 June. Before the British ships could withdraw, a raid on Trondheim located Scharnhorst. An attack by Ark Royal's Skuas took place at midnight on 13 June.[46] The attack was a disaster: the escort destroyers Antelope and Electra collided while Ark Royal was launching aircraft in fog and returned to England for repairs, eight of the fifteen attacking Skuas were shot down, while Scharnhorst escaped damage.[47] Ark Royal returned to Scapa Flow the following day, and was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet.[48]

Mediterranean deployment

Ark Royal left Scapa Flow with the battlecruiser Hood and three destroyers, arriving at Gibraltar on 23 June 1940. Here she joined Force H, under Sir James Somerville. After the capitulation of France there was concern that a French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir might fall under Axis control and tip the balance of power in the Mediterranean, affecting the whole war.[49] Ark Royal's captain, Cedric Holland, had been the British naval attaché in Paris, and was sent to negotiate the surrender or scuttling of the French fleet.[50] Force H was deployed outside the harbour, and when the French admirals refused to agree to the offered terms, opened fire on the French ships. During the attack on Mers-el-Kébir, Ark Royal's aircraft provided targeting information for the British ships.[51] The French battleship Strasbourg escaped, despite attacks by Swordfish from Ark Royal.[52] Two days after the attack, aircraft from Ark Royal incapacitated the French battleship Dunkerque, which had been beached in the initial attack.[53]

 
A Fairey Swordfish aircraft lands on Ark Royal's flight deck, whilst a Blackburn Skua circles overhead. Photograph taken from Kelvin after the attacks on the Italian Fleet off Sardinia

Having reduced the possibility of a French challenge in the Mediterranean, Force H prepared for attacks on Italian targets, and sailed from Gibraltar on 8 July.[54] The force was attacked by Italian bombers within eight hours of departing, and although Force H escaped damage, Somerville cancelled the raids and ordered the fleet to Gibraltar.[55] During July, the British colony of Malta came under attack from the Italian air force, with Force H ordered to deliver Hawker Hurricanes to reinforce the island's air defences. Force H was deployed from 31 July – 4 August, with the carrier Argus used to deliver the aircraft, while Ark Royal provided air cover for the fleet.[54] On 2 August, Ark Royal launched a successful air attack against the Italian air base at Cagliari.[56]

Force H remained at Gibraltar until 30 September, when it escorted reinforcements for Admiral Andrew Cunningham's fleet to Alexandria.[57] En route, diversionary attacks were planned on Italian air bases at Elmas and Cagliari to direct attention from both the reinforcement operation and a supply convoy sailing to Malta. The attacks were successfully carried out on 1 October, and the fleet reached Alexandria without significant attention from the Italian air force.[58] From Alexandria, Ark Royal was detached and sent to West Africa to support British attempts to encourage Vichy French colonies to switch allegiance to the Free French. During negotiations, several Free French aircraft flew from Ark Royal, but their aircrews were arrested at Dakar. Negotiations failed, and bombers from Ark Royal were directed against military installations during the unsuccessful British attempt to take Dakar by force.[59] Ark Royal then returned to Britain for refit, docking in Liverpool on 8 October after being escorted by Fortune, Forester and Greyhound.[60] The refit—which lasted until 3 November—included repairs to her machinery and the installation of a new flight deck barrier.[61]

 
Bombs falling astern of Ark Royal during an attack by Italian aircraft during the Battle of Cape Spartivento. Photograph taken from the cruiser Sheffield

Next, Ark Royal—accompanied by Barham, Berwick and Glasgow—sailed for Gibraltar, arriving on 6 November.[61] They were deployed with the rest of Force H to escort convoys from Gibraltar to Alexandria and Malta, performing several runs before being assigned to Operation Collar, one of 35 convoys to support Malta between 1940 and 1942, on 25 November. An Italian fleet—led by the battleships Giulio Cesare and Vittorio Veneto—was dispatched to intercept the convoy.[62] The Italian fleet was detected by a reconnaissance aircraft from Ark Royal and the carrier launched Swordfish torpedo bombers while the capital ships of Force H turned to meet the enemy.[63] During the engagement, the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Italian destroyer Lanciere was damaged, although it is uncertain if torpedoes from the bombers or British gunfire were responsible. The British mistook Lanciere for a cruiser, while the Italian commanders received incorrect reports that the cruiser Bolzano had been hit.[64] British attacks failed to damage any other Italian ships or sink the disabled destroyer, and a retaliatory attack by the Italian air force saw Ark Royal as the subject of multiple bombing runs, none of which hit.[64] The battle had no clear result, although the British convoy reached its destination unscathed.[65]

On 14 December 1940, Ark Royal and Force H were redeployed from Gibraltar to the Atlantic to search the Azores for commerce raiders. Ark Royal returned to the Mediterranean on 20 December, and escorted the battleship Malaya and merchant ships from Malta until 27 December.[66] Force H then became involved in Operation Excess, a plan to move convoys through the Mediterranean to support the Western Desert Force, which was trying to push Italian land forces from Egypt into Libya. Over the next month, British control of the Mediterranean theatre was weakened, particularly by the entry of the Luftwaffe and the near-loss of the aircraft carrier Illustrious.[67] The Mediterranean Fleet was under pressure from Axis forces in the Eastern Mediterranean, while the British port at Gibraltar was likely to be lost if the Spanish chose to ally with the Germans instead of remaining neutral. To relieve the Mediterranean Fleet, while demonstrating British strength to the Spanish, the Admiralty and Admiral Cunningham planned to use Ark Royal's Swordfish bombers in raids against Italian targets, supported by bombardment from heavy fleet units. The first bombing, on 2 January against the Tirso Dam in Sardinia, was unsuccessful but Ark Royal's Swordfish bombers were more successful on 6 January, when they bombed the port city of Genoa.[68] The carrier's aircraft also covered the battlecruiser Renown and battleship Malaya while they shelled the port. On 9 January, Ark Royal launched aircraft to bomb an oil refinery at La Spezia, and to lay mines in the harbour. Both operations were successful.[69]

Searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau

In early February 1941, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau headed into the Atlantic during Operation Berlin on the orders of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, commander of the German Navy. They were to disrupt Allied shipping and draw capital ships from other areas. On 8 March, Force H and Ark Royal were ordered to the Canary Islands to search for the battleships, and to cover convoys crossing from the United States.[70] Ark Royal used her aircraft to search for captured ships returning to Germany under the control of prize crews. Three ships were located on 19 March: two scuttled themselves, while the third—SS Polykarp— reached France.[71]

On the evening of 21 March 1941 a Fairey Fulmar from Ark Royal stumbled across Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at sea. Because of a radio malfunction, the crew had to return to Ark Royal to report, by which time the German ships had escaped under fog.[72] The next day, Ark Royal re-established air patrols in the hope of re-locating the raiders. During the day, a catapult malfunction destroyed a Fairey Swordfish; flinging the fuselage into the sea ahead of the carrier. Unable to stop, Ark Royal ran over the Swordfish and was overhead when the aircraft's depth charges detonated.[73] Scharnhorst and Gneisenau reached Brest without British harassment, while Ark Royal returned to Gibraltar for repairs, arriving on 24 March.[74]

Malta convoys and Operation Tiger

 
Ark Royal at sea with the battlecruiser Renown

Ark Royal spent April alternating between covering convoys and delivering aircraft to Malta and forays into the Atlantic to hunt commerce raiders. By May 1941, Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps were driving through North Africa towards the Suez Canal, pushing the Western Desert Force before them. With British forces close to collapse and strategic locations threatened, the British High Command risked sending a reinforcement convoy across the Mediterranean to Alexandria. The convoy consisted of five large transport ships, escorted by Ark Royal, the battlecruiser Renown, the battleship Queen Elizabeth, the cruisers Sheffield, Naiad, Fiji, and Gloucester, and screened by destroyers of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla.[75] Prior to Ark Royal's departure, Captain Holland left to recuperate from stress and poor health, and was replaced by Captain Loben Maund.[76] The convoy left Gibraltar on 6 May, and was detected by Italian aircraft. The convoy—limited to 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) and escorted by so many capital ships—was such a tempting target that Italian and German aircraft were mobilised.[77]

 
An intense anti-aircraft barrage is visible during an attack by Italian torpedo bombers on Force H. Ark Royal is on the left, with an Italian aircraft over her bows, and HMS Renown to the right.

The British convoy came under air attack on 8 May, first by the Italian air force, then the German Luftwaffe. Over the day, 12 of Ark Royal's Fairey Fulmars (the maximum number available) drove off over 50 aircraft, with the assistance of targeting information from Sheffield's radar and anti-aircraft fire from the escorts.[78][79] During the initial waves, one Fulmar was lost, killing Flight Lieutenant Rupert Tillard and Lieutenant Mark Somerville; another was destroyed with the aircrew recovered, while several others were damaged.[80] Consequently, only seven were able to face the main Luftwaffe force of 34 aircraft, while an attack just before dark was driven off by two aircraft and heavy fire from the ships.[80] The convoy survived without serious damage: the only casualties were to mines, with the Empire Song sunk and New Zealand Star damaged but able to reach port.[81] Ark Royal underwent another aerial attack on 12 May, during her return to Gibraltar. Later that month, she and fellow aircraft carrier Furious delivered Hawker Hurricanes to support Malta.[82]

Hunting the Bismarck

On 18 May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen began Operation Rheinübung by breaking into the Atlantic to raid shipping. After sinking the battlecruiser Hood and damaging the battleship Prince of Wales during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck shook off her pursuers and headed for the French Atlantic coast.[83] Ark Royal, Renown, and Sheffield—accompanied by destroyers Faulknor, Foresight, Forester, Fortune, Foxhound, and Fury—were dispatched to the Atlantic on 23 May to search for the battleship.[84] On 26 May, a Swordfish from Ark Royal located Bismarck and began to shadow her, while the Home Fleet was mobilised to pursue.[85]

 
One of Ark Royal's Fairey Swordfish returns at low level over the sea after making a torpedo attack on Bismarck

At the time of detection, the British ships were 130 nmi (240 km; 150 mi) away and would not catch Bismarck before she reached Saint-Nazaire, putting her safely under the air cover of the Luftwaffe once in range and while being repaired at the Normandie drydock. Fifteen Swordfish bombers were armed with torpedoes and sent to delay the ship. Sheffield, also shadowing Bismarck, was between Ark Royal and Bismarck. The aircraft mistook the British cruiser for their target and fired torpedoes. The torpedoes were fitted with unreliable magnetic detonators, which caused most to explode on contact with the water, while Sheffield evaded the rest.[86] After realising his mistake, one of the pilots signalled 'Sorry for the kipper' to Sheffield.[87]

On return to the carrier, the Swordfish were re-armed with contact-detonator warhead torpedoes, and launched at 19:15 for a second attack; locating and attacking Bismarck just before sunset. Three torpedoes hit the battleship: two detonated forward of the engine rooms, while the third struck the starboard steering compartment and jammed her rudder in a 15° port turn.[88] Bismarck was forced to sail in circles until a combination of alternating propeller speeds was found which would keep her on a reasonably steady course which, in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state, forced her to sail towards the British warships with almost no manoeuvring capability.[89] The German battleship suffered heavy attack during the night of 26–27 May, and sank at 10:39 hours on 27 May.[90]

Escorting the Malta convoys

 
Six Blackburn Skuas of No. 800 Squadron Fleet Air Arm lined up on deck before taking off

Ark Royal and the ships of Force H returned to Gibraltar on 29 May 1941. Despite the boost in Allied morale from the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, the war in the Mediterranean was going against the Allies. Greece and Crete had fallen to the Axis Powers, and the Afrika Korps was preparing to launch a final push into Egypt. Malta remained an important stronghold in the Mediterranean, but was coming under increased pressure from Italian and German air attacks, and could no longer be supplied from the east since the Battle of Crete.[91]

Ark Royal was pressed into service, delivering aircraft to Malta during several supply runs throughout June and July, and escorting the convoys of Operation Substance in July and Operation Halberd in September. Despite some losses, the convoys succeeded in keeping Malta supplied and fighting.[92] The continued Allied presence in Malta was a considerable problem for Rommel in Africa, who was losing as much as ⅓ of his supplies from Italy to submarines and bombers based there.[93] Adolf Hitler decided to send a flotilla of U-boats into the Mediterranean to attack Allied shipping, against the advice of Großadmiral Raeder.[93]

Final voyage and sinking

On 10 November 1941, Ark Royal ferried more aircraft to Malta before returning to Gibraltar. Admiral Somerville had been warned of U-boats off the Spanish coast, and reminded Force H to be vigilant.[94] Also at sea was Friedrich Guggenberger's U-81, which had received a report that Force H was returning to Gibraltar.[93]

On 13 November, at 15:40, the sonar operator aboard the destroyer Legion detected an unidentified sound, but assumed it was the propellers of a nearby destroyer. One minute later, Ark Royal was struck amidships by a torpedo,[95] between the fuel bunkers and bomb store, and directly below the bridge island.[96] The explosion caused Ark Royal to shake, hurled loaded torpedo-bombers into the air, and killed 44 year old Able Seaman Edward Mitchell, the only man to die in the sinking.[96] The torpedo punched a 130 ft × 30 ft (40 m × 9 m) hole in the ship's bottom and starboard side below the water-line after running deep and hitting the bilge keel, inboard of the side protection system.[97] The hit caused flooding of the starboard boiler room, main switchboard, oil tanks, and over 106 feet (32 m) of the ship's starboard bilge. The explosion knocked out all internal communications and the starboard power train, causing the rear half of the ship to lose power.[98]

 
Legion moving alongside the damaged and listing Ark Royal to take off survivors

Immediately after the torpedo strike, Captain Maund ordered the engines to full stop, but with the communications knocked out had to send a runner to the engine room.[99] The ship's continued motion enlarged the hole in the hull, and by the time Ark Royal stopped she had taken on a great deal of water and begun to list to starboard, reaching 18° from centre within 20 minutes.[99] Considering the list of the carrier, and the fact that other carriers, including Courageous and Glorious, had sunk rapidly with heavy loss of life, Maund gave the order to abandon ship. The crew were assembled on the flight deck to determine who would remain on board to try to save the ship while Legion came alongside to take off the rest. As a result, comprehensive damage control measures were not initiated until 49 minutes after the attack. The flooding spread unchecked, exacerbated by covers and hatches left open during evacuation of the lower decks.[100]

Water spread to the centreline boiler room, which started to flood from below, and power was lost shipwide when the boiler uptakes became choked; Ark Royal had no backup diesel generators.[101] About half an hour after the explosion, the carrier appeared to stabilise. Admiral Somerville, determined to save Ark Royal, ordered damage control parties back to the carrier before taking the battleship Malaya to Gibraltar to organise salvage efforts. The damage control parties re-lit a boiler, restoring power to the bilge pumps. The destroyer Laforey came alongside to provide power and additional pumps, while Swordfish aircraft from Gibraltar flew overhead to supplement anti-submarine patrols.[102] The tug Thames arrived from Gibraltar at 20:00 and attached a tow line to Ark Royal, but the flooding had caused the ship to list more severely. Rising water reached the boiler room fan flat, an uninterrupted compartment running the width of the ship. This forced the shutdown of the restored boiler.[103]

 
Another photograph showing the degree of the list

The list reached 20° between 02:05 and 02:30, and when 'abandon ship' was declared again at 04:00, had reached 27°.[104] Ark Royal's complement had been evacuated to Legion by 04:30; with the exception of Mitchell, there were no fatalities. The 1,487 officers and crew were transported to Gibraltar.[105] The list reached 45° before Ark Royal capsized and sank at 06:19 on 14 November.[106] Witnesses reported the carrier rolling to 90°, where she remained for three minutes before inverting. Ark Royal then broke in two, the aft sinking within a couple of minutes, followed by the bow.[107]

Investigation

A Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the loss. Based on its findings, Captain Loben Maund was court-martialled in February 1942. He was found guilty on two counts of negligence: one of failing to ensure that properly constituted damage control parties had remained on board after the general evacuation, and one of failing to ensure the ship was in a sufficient state of readiness to deal with possible damage.[108] The board tempered their judgement with an acknowledgement that a high standard was being expected of Maund, and that he was primarily concerned with the welfare of his crew.[108]

The Bucknill Committee, which had been set up to investigate the loss of major warships, also produced a report. This report said that the lack of backup power sources was a major design failure, which contributed to the loss: Ark Royal depended on electricity for much of her operation, and once the boilers and steam-driven dynamos were knocked out, the loss of power made damage control difficult. The committee recommended the design of the bulkheads and boiler intakes be improved to decrease the risk of widespread flooding in boiler rooms and machine spaces, while the uninterrupted boiler room flat was criticised. The design flaws were rectified in the Illustrious- and Implacable-class carriers, under construction at the time.[109][110]

The Board of Inquiry closed its report with the observation that Ark Royal had sunk 22 nautical miles (25 mi; 41 km) east of Europa Point, the southernmost tip of Gibraltar. This was accepted as the wreck location for 60 years.[111]

Rediscovery

The location of the wreck was undetermined until mid-December 2002, when the wreck was discovered by an underwater survey company, C & C Technologies, Inc, using a sonar-equipped autonomous underwater vehicle, 30 nautical miles (35 mi; 56 km) from Gibraltar, at about 3,300 feet (1,000 m) depth.[112][113] The company had been contracted by the BBC as part of a documentary on maritime archaeology related to major battles of the Royal Navy.[113] The Ark Royal wreck lies in two main pieces with the stern section sitting upright and the bow section upside down. 66 feet (20 m) of the bow is separated from the rest of the ship's hull. A large debris field, which includes the funnel and bridge island, parts of the ship that came loose as the carrier sank, and aircraft from the hangars, lies between the two hull sections. Analysis revealed that the port side of the ship hit the seabed first.[114]

The wreck was found further east than expected. Researchers originally thought the wreck had been carried by currents farther into the Mediterranean as she sank—that the ship had travelled eastwards underwater before reaching the seabed.[115] The presence near the hull pieces of other debris, including a Swordfish bomber that was tipped off the flight deck before the ship rolled, proved this false. If the current had pushed the hull pieces any significant distance sideways as they sank, debris would have been spread over a much wider area. It seems though that eastward currents had affected her progress towards Gibraltar during the time she was under tow.[116]

Study of the wreck also showed that restarting the engines to provide power increased the stresses placed on the hull, adding to the flooding. Once power was then lost, it was impossible to prevent the ship from sinking—her fate was more the result of design flaws than of the actions of her captain.[116]

Notes

  1. ^ The Washington Naval Treaty (signed in February 1922) imposed a limit of 135,000 tons on total British aircraft carrier displacement, with no one ship allowed to exceed 33,000 tons, and only two to exceed 27,000 tons.[117] The London Naval Treaty (signed in April 1930) prevented signatories from constructing new capital ships, or converting existing capital ships into aircraft carriers, until 1937.[118]

Citations

  1. ^ David A Thomas, "Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy" Kindle edition
  2. ^ a b Friedman, British Carrier Aviation, Appendix A. Ark Royal entered service with four 8-barrelled mountings, but by October 1941 all six mountings were in place.
  3. ^ a b c d Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 43–44.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bishop & Chant. Aircraft carriers. p. 45.
  5. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 48–51.
  6. ^ Friedman. When the flight deck becomes the strength deck, the aircraft hangars are then enclosed within the hull structure. The terms, 'enclosed' and 'open' hangars do not, strictly speaking, refer to a hangar that is closed or open on the sides, but rather to whether the hangar is, respectively, below or above the strength deck.
  7. ^ Friedman. The flight deck was designed with .75 in of Ducol steel. The enclosed hangar design required a deck of approximately this thickness to ensure adequate hull integrity, so the limited armour protection was a by-product of the enclosed hangar design. The strength deck is designed to carry structural loading in combination with the hull girder and side and bottom plating. Ship's structure above the strength deck is termed 'superstructure'. Ducol steel was an advanced type of high tensile steel which had great strength and was often used to provide armour for splinter protection.
  8. ^ a b Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 16.
  9. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 48–49.
  10. ^ Garzke. Allied Battleships. pp. 364–365.
  11. ^ Friedman. British Carrier Aviation. p. 121.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mason. . Archived from the original on 29 September 2016.
  13. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 47.
  14. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 45.
  15. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  16. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 45–46.
  17. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 46.
  18. ^ a b Colledge & Warlow. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 21.
  19. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 41.
  20. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 61–62.
  21. ^ Friedman, p. 123
  22. ^ a b Westwood. Fighting Ships of World War II. p. 66.
  23. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 47.
  24. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 47–48.
  25. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 112.
  26. ^ Brown; et al. Carrier Operations. p. 15.
  27. ^ a b Edwards. Dönitz and the Wolf Packs. p. 18.
  28. ^ a b c d Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 74–77.
  29. ^ a b c d e Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 75–78.
  30. ^ a b c Edwards. Dönitz and the wolf packs. p. 87.
  31. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 81.
  32. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 82.
  33. ^ Bekker. The Luftwaffe War Diaries. pp. 75–76.
  34. ^ a b c Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 84–85.
  35. ^ Balfour. Propaganda in War 1939–1945. pp. 158–159.
  36. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 88–89.
  37. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 53.
  38. ^ Mitchell. The Empire Ships. p. 431.
  39. ^ a b Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 42.
  40. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 94–96.
  41. ^ a b c Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 99.
  42. ^ a b Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 97.
  43. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 117.
  44. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 119.
  45. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 120–121.
  46. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 137.
  47. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 140–141.
  48. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 128.
  49. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 154.
  50. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 132.
  51. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 136.
  52. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 138.
  53. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 170.
  54. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 179.
  55. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 180.
  56. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 185–187.
  57. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 192–193.
  58. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 190.
  59. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 212–15.
  60. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 222–225.
  61. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 192.
  62. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 230.
  63. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 236–258.
  64. ^ a b Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 239.
  65. ^ O'Hara. Struggle. pp. 72–74.
  66. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 210.
  67. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 218–219.
  68. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 222–226.
  69. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 228–230.
  70. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 259–260.
  71. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 260.
  72. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 260–262.
  73. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 242.
  74. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 243.
  75. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 268–269.
  76. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 266.
  77. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 269.
  78. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 271–274.
  79. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 258.
  80. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 249.
  81. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 274.
  82. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 276–277.
  83. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 279–290.
  84. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 294.
  85. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 296.
  86. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 299–300.
  87. ^ Stephen. Sea Battles. p. 90.
  88. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 303–305.
  89. ^ Garzke. Axis Battleships. pp. 235–236.
  90. ^ Williamson. German Battleships. pp. 33–34.
  91. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 316–317.
  92. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 318.
  93. ^ a b c Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 327.
  94. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 337.
  95. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 329.
  96. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 332.
  97. ^ Friedman. British Carrier Aviation. p. 126.
  98. ^ Paterson. U-Boats. p. 38.
  99. ^ a b Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 338.
  100. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 338–340.
  101. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 345.
  102. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 342.
  103. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. pp. 343–345.
  104. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 346.
  105. ^ Duffy. Target America. p. 136.
  106. ^ Jameson. Ark Royal. p. 348.
  107. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 375–376.
  108. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 372–437.
  109. ^ Papers of Admiral Sir Hugh Binney, reports of Second Bucknill Committee relating to loss of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Ark Royal, 1941–1942, held at Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
  110. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 374.
  111. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 30.
  112. ^ Warren, Daniel; Church, Robert; Davey, Rick (September 2004). "Discovering H.M.S. Ark Royal" (PDF). Hydro International. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  113. ^ a b "Film team finds wreck of Ark Royal". BBC News. 19 December 2002.
  114. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 368–369.
  115. ^ Rossiter. Ark Royal. pp. 168–169.
  116. ^ a b Rossiter. Ark Royal. p. 377.
  117. ^ Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. pp. 247–66.
  118. ^ Reproduced in Goldman. Sunken treaties. pp. 307–19.

References

Books

  • Balfour, Michael (1979). Propaganda in War 1939–1945: Organisation, Policies and Publics in Britain and Germany. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-0193-2. OCLC 5373844.
  • Bekker, Cajus (1969). The Luftwaffe War Diaries. Zielger, Frank (trans.). London: Corgi. ISBN 0-552-08236-8. OCLC 30270475.
  • Bishop, Chris; Chant, Christopher (2004). Aircraft Carriers: The World's Greatest Naval Vessels and Their Aircraft. Grand Rapids, MI: Zenith. ISBN 0-7603-2005-5. OCLC 56646560. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  • Brown, David; Brown, J. D.; Hobbs, David (2009). Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-108-2.
  • Chesneau, Roger (1984). Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-902-2. OCLC 11018793.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Duffy, James P. (2006) [2004]. Target America: Hitler's Plan to Attack the United States (3rd ed.). New York: Lyons. ISBN 1-59228-934-7. OCLC 70264388.
  • Edwards, Bernard (1999) [1996]. Dönitz and the Wolf Packs: the U-boats at war (2nd ed.). London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35203-9. OCLC 41465151.
  • Friedman, Norman (1988). British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and their Aircraft. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-054-8.
  • Garzke, William; John Dulin (1990). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-101-0.
  • Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. Jr.; Webb, Thomas G. (1980). Allied Battleships in World War II. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-100-5.
  • Goldman, Emily O. (1994). Sunken Treaties: Naval Arms Control Between the Wars. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University. ISBN 0-271-01034-7. OCLC 28723444.
  • Jameson, William (1 April 2004) [1957]. Ark Royal: The Life of an Aircraft Carrier at War 1939–41 (2nd ed.). Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-27-8.
  • Lenton, H. T. (1998). British and Empire Warships of the Second World War. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-277-7.
  • Mitchell, William Harry; Sawyer, Leonard Arthur (1990). The Empire Ships: A Record of British-built and Acquired Merchant Ships During the Second World War. Lloyd's of London Press. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
  • O'Hara, Vincent (2009). Struggle for the Middle Sea. Vol. 1. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3.
  • "Conference on the Limitation of Armament". Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. Vol. I. Washington: US G.P.O. 1922. pp. 247–66. OCLC 24045525. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  • Paterson, Lawrence (2007). U-boats in the Mediterranean, 1941–1944. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-893-7.
  • Poolman, Kenneth (1956). Ark Royal: Wm Kimber & Co Ltd.
  • Rossiter, Mike (2007) [2006]. Ark Royal: The Life, Death and Rediscovery of the Legendary Second World War Aircraft Carrier (2nd ed.). London: Corgi Books. ISBN 978-0-552-15369-0. OCLC 81453068.
  • Sullivan, David M. & Sturton, Ian (2010). "Extraordinary Views of HMS Glorious and HMS Ark Royal". Warship International. XLVII (3): 257–62. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Stephen, Martin (1988). Sea Battles in Close-Up: World War 2. Vol. 1. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-556-6.
  • Westwood, J. N. (1975) [1971]. Fighting Ships of World War II. London: Sidgwick and Jackson (for Book Club Associates). ISBN 0-283-98287-X. OCLC 2090062.
  • Williamson, Gordon (2003). German Battleships 1939–45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-498-6.

Websites

  • "Film team finds wreck of Ark Royal". BBC News. BBC. 19 December 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  • Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). . Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. Naval-History.Net. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.

External links

  • HMS Ark Royal – Operational History and Photos
  • Picture of Ark Royal sinking with Swordfish on deck.

Coordinates: 36°3′N 4°45′W / 36.050°N 4.750°W / 36.050; -4.750

royal, other, ships, with, same, name, royal, royal, pennant, number, aircraft, carrier, royal, navy, that, operated, during, second, world, royal, 1939, with, swordfish, naval, squadron, passing, overheadclass, overviewpreceded, bycourageous, classsucceeded, . For other ships with the same name see HMS Ark Royal HMS Ark Royal pennant number 91 was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that was operated during the Second World War HMS Ark Royal in 1939 with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron passing overheadClass overviewPreceded byCourageous classSucceeded byIllustrious classHistoryUnited KingdomNameArk RoyalNamesakeArk Royal 1587 Ordered1934 build programmeBuilderCammell LairdLaid down16 September 1935Launched13 April 1937Commissioned16 December 1938IdentificationPennant number 91MottoDesire n a pas Repos Zeal Does Not Rest Honours andawardsSpanish Armada 1588 Cadiz 1596 1 Dardanelles 1915 Norway 1940 Spartivento 1940 Mediterranean 1940 41 Malta Convoys 1941 Bismarck 1941FateSunk by U 81 14 November 1941General characteristicsTypeAircraft CarrierDisplacement22 000 long tons 22 000 t standard 27 720 long tons 28 160 t deep load Length800 ft 240 m overall 721 ft 6 in 219 91 m waterlineBeam94 ft 9 6 in 28 895 m Draught27 ft 9 6 in 8 473 m Installed power6 Admiralty 3 drum boilers 102 000 shp 76 000 kW Propulsion3 shafts 3 geared steam turbinesSpeed30 knots 56 km h 35 mph as designed 31 knots 57 km h 36 mph actualRange7 600 nmi 14 100 km 8 700 mi at 20 knots 37 km h 23 mph Complement1 580 officers and ratingsArmament8 twin 4 5 in 110 mm DP guns 4 quadruple 2 pdr 40 mm 1 57 in AA guns 2 8 quadruple 50 in 12 7 mm AA MGsArmourBelt 4 5 in 11 4 cm Deck 3 5 in 8 9 cm over boiler rooms and magazinesAircraft carried72 designed 50 60 actual 1939 1940 26 Fairey Swordfish 24 Blackburn Skuas 1940 1941 30 Fairey Swordfish 12 Blackburn Skuas 12 Fairey Fulmars 1941 36 Fairey Swordfish 18 Fairey FulmarsAviation facilities2 catapultsDesigned in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead England and completed in November 1938 Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull instead of an add on or part of the superstructure Designed to carry a large number of aircraft she had two hangar deck levels She was used during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power several carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal Ark Royal operated in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War She was involved in the first aerial U boat kills of the war operations off Norway the search for the German battleship Bismarck and the Malta Convoys Ark Royal survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a lucky ship She was torpedoed on 13 November 1941 by the German submarine U 81 and sank the following day One of her 1 488 crew members was killed Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries with investigators keen to know how the carrier was lost in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss which were rectified in new British carriers The wreck was discovered in December 2002 by an American underwater survey company using sonar mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle under contract from the BBC for the filming of a documentary about the ship at a depth of about 3 300 feet 1 000 m and approximately 30 nautical miles 56 km 35 mi from Gibraltar Contents 1 Design 2 Construction 3 Armament and aircraft 4 Service history 4 1 With the hunter killer groups 4 2 Another near miss 4 3 Hunting the Graf Spee 4 4 Return to the fleet 4 5 Norwegian campaign 4 6 Mediterranean deployment 4 7 Searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau 4 8 Malta convoys and Operation Tiger 4 9 Hunting the Bismarck 4 10 Escorting the Malta convoys 5 Final voyage and sinking 5 1 Investigation 6 Rediscovery 7 Notes 8 Citations 9 References 9 1 Books 9 2 Websites 10 External linksDesign EditIn 1923 the Admiralty prepared a 10 year building programme which included an aircraft carrier and 300 aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm 3 The economic downturn following the First World War caused it to be postponed In 1930 the Director of Naval Construction Sir Arthur Johns began to update the plans for the carrier by incorporating recently developed technology 3 His aim was to increase the number of aircraft carried by shortening the landing and take off distances of aircraft using arrestor gear and compressed steam catapults respectively which would make more deck space available for storage and aircraft preparation 3 4 Along with the inclusion of two hangar decks this allowed Ark Royal to carry up to 72 aircraft although the development of larger and heavier aircraft during the carrier s construction meant that the actual number carried was between 50 and 60 5 Ark Royal featured an enclosed hangar design 6 where the flight deck was the strength deck 7 and was strongly built with 75in 19mm thick Ducol steel plating The two hangar decks were thus enclosed within the hull girder which also gave splinter protection to the hangars The machinery spaces were protected by 4 5 inch 11 4 cm belt armour 4 Three lifts moved aircraft between the hangars and the flight deck 4 Ark Royal s flight deck overhung the stern Her unusual height above the waterline is visible in comparison with the tugboat Another feature was the length and height of the flight deck At 800 feet 240 m the flight deck was 118 feet 36 m longer than the keel the latter dictated by the length of Royal Navy drydocks in Gibraltar and Malta 4 Due to the twin hangar decks the flight deck rose to 66 feet 20 m above the waterline 8 The Washington and London Naval treaties had restricted warship displacement for a number of nations after the end of the Great War and were both to expire by the end of 1936 a With a potential naval arms race developing between Britain Japan and Italy the British government sought a second treaty which included limiting the maximum displacement of an aircraft carrier to 23 000 long tons 23 000 t Ark Royal would have to fit this anticipated limit to conserve weight armour plating was limited to the belt engine rooms and magazines while welding instead of rivetting 65 of the hull saved 500 long tons 510 t 9 Installation of an armoured flight deck was not possible as the weight would have placed Ark Royal above the proposed limit while reducing her endurance and stability 9 The ship was designed with a three layer side protection system based upon a void liquid void scheme very similar to that used on the King George V class battleships and was designed to protect against torpedoes with up to a 750 pound 340 kg warhead 10 11 The ship was fitted with six boilers which powered three Parsons geared turbines The turbines were connected via three driveshafts to three propellers 16 feet 4 9 m in diameter to produce a maximum theoretical speed of 30 knots 56 km h 35 mph 12 13 Speed was important as with catapults and arrestor gear Ark Royal would have to turn into the wind to launch and recover aircraft To avoid endangering other ships with the frequent course changes associated with flight operations Ark Royal would have to break away from accompanying ships and catch up on completion Additionally as the carrier was not armed for ship to ship combat speed was her main protection against enemy warships 3 Construction EditThe deteriorating international situation by 1933 typified by Germany s rearmament and the expansion of Japan and Italy convinced the British to announce funds for the carrier s construction in the 1934 budget proposals 14 The plans were finished by November 1934 and were tendered in February 1935 to Cammell Laird and Company Ltd which calculated the cost of the hull at 1 496 250 equivalent to 110 500 000 in 2021 15 and the main machinery at approximately 500 000 equivalent to 36 925 826 in 2021 12 16 The overall cost was estimated to be over 3 million equivalent to 222 million in 2021 making Ark Royal the most expensive non battleship ordered by the Royal Navy 17 Construction began on Job No 1012 when Ark Royal s keel was laid down on 16 September 1935 18 Ark Royal immediately after launching The lifts on the flight deck and the anti aircraft positions on the hull are visible Ark Royal spent nearly two years in the builder s yard before being launched on 13 April 1937 by Lady Maud Hoare wife of Sir Samuel Hoare then First Lord of the Admiralty The bottle of champagne thrown against Ark Royal s bows did not smash until the fourth attempt 19 The carrier spent a year fitting out was handed over to her first commander Captain Arthur Power on 16 November 1938 and was commissioned on 16 December 18 Although intended for the Far East events in Europe during the carrier s construction including the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936 caused the Admiralty to mark her for deployment with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets 20 After her crew joined at the end of 1938 Ark Royal underwent sea trials to prepare for service during which the carrier proved capable of sailing above her theoretical speed reaching over 31 knots 57 km h 36 mph 8 and in trials during May 1938 Ark Royal achieved 31 2 knots 57 8 km h 35 9 mph with 103 012 shaft horsepower 76 816 kW at a deep displacement of 27 525 long tons 27 967 t 21 Armament and aircraft EditArk Royal s armament was designed with anti aircraft warfare in mind as aircraft were expected to be the main threat ships and submarines could be outrun or dealt with by escorts 22 23 Her main armament was sixteen quick firing 4 5 inch 110 mm dual purpose guns in eight double turrets four on each side of the hull controlled by four Directors using the High Angle Control System 4 The original design placed the turrets low on the hull but was later altered to locate them just below the flight deck which increased each turret s field of fire 4 Six 2 8 barrelled 2 pounder 40 millimetre 1 57 in pom pom guns were located on the flight deck in front of and behind the superstructure island while eight 4 barrelled 50 inch 12 7 mm machine guns were installed on small projecting platforms to the front and rear of the flight deck 24 Sixteen Fleet Air Arm squadrons were posted aboard Ark Royal during her career an average of five squadrons at any time On entering service most of Ark Royal s squadrons were equipped with either Blackburn Skuas used as fighters and dive bombers or Fairey Swordfish for reconnaissance and torpedo bombing From April 1940 squadrons equipped with Skuas were upgraded to Fairey Fulmars like their predecessors these were used as fighters and bombers On occasion the carrier operated Blackburn Roc fighter bombers from April 1939 October 1940 and Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers during October 1941 these were replacement aircraft used to boost squadron numbers 25 In June 1940 Ark Royal was host to 701 Naval Air Squadron a training squadron which operated Supermarine Walrus reconnaissance amphibians 26 Squadrons embarked aboard Ark Royal Squadron Aircraft operated Embarked from to Notes800 Blackburn Skua Mk II January 1939 April 1941 Transferred to Victorious810 Fairey Swordfish Mk I January 1939 September 1941820 Fairey Swordfish Mk I January 1939 June 1941 821 Fairey Swordfish Mk I January 1939 April 1940 Removed from operational service following losses against Scharnhorst803 Blackburn Skua Mk II Blackburn Roc Mk I April 1939 October 1940 818 Fairey Swordfish Mk I August October 1939 June July 1940 Operated from Furious and land bases between October 1939 and June 1940801 Blackburn Skua Mk II April May 1940 Transferred to Furious807 Fairey Fulmar Mk II April November 1941 Embarked at sinking701 Supermarine Walrus Mk I June 1940 Training squadron808 Fairey Fulmar Mk II September 1940 November 1941 Embarked at sinking821X Fairey Swordfish Mk I December 1940 January 1941 Flight assembled from 821 Squadron survivors later absorbed into 815 Squadron800Y Fairey Fulmar Mk I June 1941 Flight from 800 Squadron825 Fairey Swordfish Mk I June November 1941 Embarked at sinking816 Fairey Swordfish Mk I July November 1941 Embarked at sinking812 Fairey Swordfish Mk I September November 1941 Embarked at sinking828 Fairey Swordfish Mk I Fairey Albacore Mk I October 1941 Redeployed to MaltaService history EditWith the hunter killer groups Edit The message sent to the ship informing her of the commencing of hostilities on 3 September 1939 The outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 had been presaged by Germany s U boat fleet taking up positions off the British coast where they could intercept British shipping 27 Within hours of the war starting the passenger ship SS Athenia was torpedoed by U 30 the first of over 65 000 tons of shipping sunk by U boats during the first week of the war 27 28 Ark Royal was deployed with the Home Fleet in the North Western Approaches as part of a hunter killer group consisting of a flotilla of destroyers and other anti submarine vessels grouped around an aircraft carrier either Courageous Hermes or Ark Royal Carrier borne aircraft could increase the area searched for U boats but made the carriers tempting targets 28 On 14 September Ark Royal received a distress call from SS Fanad Head which was 200 nautical miles 230 mi 370 km away under pursuit from the surfaced U 30 29 Ark Royal launched aircraft to aid the merchant ship but was spotted by U 39 which launched two torpedoes 29 30 Lookouts spotted the torpedo tracks and Ark Royal turned towards the attack reducing her cross section and causing the torpedoes to miss and explode harmlessly astern 28 Three F class destroyers escorting the carrier began to depth charge U 39 and forced her to the surface 30 The German crew abandoned ship before U 39 sank the first U boat lost during the war 30 Ark Royal s aircraft reached Fanad Head which was in the hands of a German boarding party 29 The Skuas unsuccessfully attacked U 30 two crashed when caught by the blast of their own bombs 29 The U boat escaped after rescuing the boarding party and the pilots of the downed aircraft both observers had drowned and torpedoing the Fanad Head 29 Ark Royal returned to base in Loch Ewe where she and her crew were inspected by Winston Churchill The sinking of U 39 was hailed as important to morale However the failed attack on Ark Royal and the successful attack on Courageous on 17 September convinced the Admiralty it was too dangerous to risk aircraft carriers in this way and carrier centred hunter killer groups were abandoned 28 Another near miss Edit Ark Royal conducting flying operations in 1939 On 25 September 1939 Ark Royal helped rescue the submarine Spearfish which had been damaged by German warships off Horn Reefs in the Kattegat 31 While returning to port with Spearfish and the battleships Nelson and Rodney on 26 September the ships were located by three Luftwaffe Dornier Do 18 seaplanes 12 Ark Royal launched three Blackburn Skuas to disperse them one Dornier was shot down in an event propagandised as first British aerial kill of the war later it was learned that the pilot of a Fairey Battle achieved the first kill 22 The air commander aboard Ark Royal aware that the surviving Dorniers would report the location of the British ships ordered the aircraft to be secured and the anti aircraft weapons readied 32 Four Junkers Ju 88 bombers 33 of the Luftwaffe bomber wing KG 30 soon appeared three were driven away by anti aircraft fire but the fourth launched a 2 200 pound 1 000 kg bomb at the carrier Ark Royal turned hard to starboard heeling over and avoiding the bomb which landed in the ocean 100 feet 30 m off her starboard bow and sent a spout of water over the ship The German pilots did not see if the carrier had been hit and a reconnaissance flight later located the two battleships but not Ark Royal Based on this information the Germans incorrectly claimed that Ark Royal had sunk 34 To prove the German propaganda false before it had a negative effect on Britain s allies Winston Churchill reassured United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the carrier was undamaged and invited the US naval attache to view Ark Royal in dock 34 The British naval attache in Rome was instructed to assure Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini that the ship was still in service 34 This was an embarrassment for Goebbels and Nazi propaganda 35 Hunting the Graf Spee Edit In October 1939 Ark Royal was redeployed to Freetown to operate off the African coast in the hunt for the German commerce raider Admiral Graf Spee The carrier was assigned to Force K and sailed with the battlecruiser Renown to the South Atlantic 12 On 9 October aircraft from Ark Royal spotted the German tanker Altmark which supplied Graf Spee The tanker was disguised as the US vessel Delmar which fooled the British into passing her by 36 On 5 November Ark Royal captured the German merchant SS Uhenfels which was attempting to reach Germany The ship was later taken into British service as a cargo ship 37 and renamed Empire Ability 38 Several neutral merchant ships were also spotted by the carrier s aircraft twice causing crews to believe they were under attack and abandon ship 39 A note explaining the situation was dropped in a bag to a Norwegian vessel s crew and they re boarded an attempt to repeat this exercise with a Belgian crew failed when the bag was dropped down the ship s funnel 39 On December 14 1939 Graf Spee had put into Montevideo to repair damage received during the battle of the River Plate Two Royal Navy cruisers followed the raider and patrolled the harbour entrance while reporting Graf Spee s position to the fleet Ark Royal and Renown were dispatched to join the British ships outside the harbour but as they were 36 hours away the British naval attache came up with a plan to make the Germans believe that the two capital ships had already arrived An order for fuel for Ark Royal was placed at Buenos Aires 140 miles 230 km west of Montevideo This was leaked to the press passed on to the German embassy in Montevideo and given to Graf Spee s captain Hans Langsdorff 40 This contributed to Langsdorff s decision to scuttle his ship 40 Return to the fleet Edit With Graf Spee sunk Ark Royal remained in the Atlantic for a short time before escorting the damaged heavy cruiser Exeter back to Devonport Dockyard where they arrived in February 12 Following this Ark Royal proceeded to Portsmouth to take on supplies and personnel before sailing to Scapa Flow On arrival she transferred her Blackburn Skuas to Naval Air Station Hatston to strengthen the anchorage s defences 41 Ark Royal was then assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet for exercises departing Scapa Flow on 31 March 1940 and heading for Alexandria with the aircraft carrier Glorious 12 The carriers arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on 8 April but the exercises were cancelled a day later The ships sailed to Gibraltar to await orders 41 German forces had invaded Norway as part of Operation Weserubung on 9 April and had secured sections of the coast Attempts by the Royal Navy to operate in support of British troops were unsuccessful air attacks had overwhelmed the ships sinking Gurkha and nearly sinking Suffolk Realising that the British ships required air cover but aware that the Norwegian coast was outside the range of British land based aircraft the Admiralty recalled Ark Royal and Glorious from the Mediterranean on 16 April 41 Norwegian campaign Edit Ark Royal and Glorious arrived at Scapa Flow on 23 April 1940 and were immediately redeployed as part of Operation DX sailing to Norway with the cruisers Curlew and Berwick and screened by the destroyers Hyperion Hereward Hasty Fearless Fury and Juno This was the first time the Royal Navy had deployed carriers with the primary purpose of providing fighter protection for other warships 12 The ships took up position on 25 April off the coast Ark Royal positioned 120 nautical miles 220 km 140 mi offshore to reduce the chance of air attacks The carrier s aircraft conducted anti submarine patrols provided fighter support for other ships and carried out strikes against shipping and shore targets 12 25 Ark Royal returned to Scapa Flow on 27 April to refuel and replace lost and damaged aircraft before heading back on the same day with the battleship Valiant as escort 12 During the return Ark Royal came under air attack from German Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 bombers operating from Norway The carrier was undamaged and resumed position on 29 April 42 A Blackburn Skua landing on Ark Royal The Skuas were the mainstay of the Fleet Air Arm during the early Second World War Also visible are the arrestor wires strung across the flight deck By this point the British high command had realised that they could not hold the Germans in southern Norway The evacuation of Allied troops from Molde and Andalsnes began with Ark Royal providing air cover from 30 April On 1 May the Germans tried to sink the carrier with numerous air attacks through the day Ark Royal s fighters and a heavy anti aircraft barrage drove off the enemy and although several bombs were dropped at the carrier none hit 42 The evacuations of Molde and Andalsnes were completed on 3 May and the carrier was recalled to Scapa Flow to refuel and rearm While in port Captain Arthur Power left the ship for a promotion to the Admiralty and was replaced by Captain Cedric Holland 43 On return to Norway Ark Royal was told to provide air cover for operations around Narvik including the landing of French troops on 13 May 44 She was joined on 18 May by the carriers Glorious and Furious 12 Despite these efforts it was clear by the end of May that French forces were on the verge of collapse and Norway was a sideshow compared to the German advance to the English Channel 44 Operation Alphabet was instigated to move Allied troops from Narvik to Britain Ark Royal and Glorious screened by the destroyers Highlander Diana Acasta Ardent and Acheron sailed from Scapa Flow on 1 June to cover the evacuation which commenced the next day Ark Royal carried out air patrols and bombing raids from 3 6 June before redeploying to Narvik on 7 June The next day Glorious Acasta and Ardent were sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while heading back to Britain Ark Royal s aircraft failed to locate the German ships which had returned to Trondheim 45 The last evacuation convoy left Narvik on 9 June Before the British ships could withdraw a raid on Trondheim located Scharnhorst An attack by Ark Royal s Skuas took place at midnight on 13 June 46 The attack was a disaster the escort destroyers Antelope and Electra collided while Ark Royal was launching aircraft in fog and returned to England for repairs eight of the fifteen attacking Skuas were shot down while Scharnhorst escaped damage 47 Ark Royal returned to Scapa Flow the following day and was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet 48 Mediterranean deployment Edit Ark Royal left Scapa Flow with the battlecruiser Hood and three destroyers arriving at Gibraltar on 23 June 1940 Here she joined Force H under Sir James Somerville After the capitulation of France there was concern that a French fleet at Mers el Kebir might fall under Axis control and tip the balance of power in the Mediterranean affecting the whole war 49 Ark Royal s captain Cedric Holland had been the British naval attache in Paris and was sent to negotiate the surrender or scuttling of the French fleet 50 Force H was deployed outside the harbour and when the French admirals refused to agree to the offered terms opened fire on the French ships During the attack on Mers el Kebir Ark Royal s aircraft provided targeting information for the British ships 51 The French battleship Strasbourg escaped despite attacks by Swordfish from Ark Royal 52 Two days after the attack aircraft from Ark Royal incapacitated the French battleship Dunkerque which had been beached in the initial attack 53 A Fairey Swordfish aircraft lands on Ark Royal s flight deck whilst a Blackburn Skua circles overhead Photograph taken from Kelvin after the attacks on the Italian Fleet off Sardinia Having reduced the possibility of a French challenge in the Mediterranean Force H prepared for attacks on Italian targets and sailed from Gibraltar on 8 July 54 The force was attacked by Italian bombers within eight hours of departing and although Force H escaped damage Somerville cancelled the raids and ordered the fleet to Gibraltar 55 During July the British colony of Malta came under attack from the Italian air force with Force H ordered to deliver Hawker Hurricanes to reinforce the island s air defences Force H was deployed from 31 July 4 August with the carrier Argus used to deliver the aircraft while Ark Royal provided air cover for the fleet 54 On 2 August Ark Royal launched a successful air attack against the Italian air base at Cagliari 56 Force H remained at Gibraltar until 30 September when it escorted reinforcements for Admiral Andrew Cunningham s fleet to Alexandria 57 En route diversionary attacks were planned on Italian air bases at Elmas and Cagliari to direct attention from both the reinforcement operation and a supply convoy sailing to Malta The attacks were successfully carried out on 1 October and the fleet reached Alexandria without significant attention from the Italian air force 58 From Alexandria Ark Royal was detached and sent to West Africa to support British attempts to encourage Vichy French colonies to switch allegiance to the Free French During negotiations several Free French aircraft flew from Ark Royal but their aircrews were arrested at Dakar Negotiations failed and bombers from Ark Royal were directed against military installations during the unsuccessful British attempt to take Dakar by force 59 Ark Royal then returned to Britain for refit docking in Liverpool on 8 October after being escorted by Fortune Forester and Greyhound 60 The refit which lasted until 3 November included repairs to her machinery and the installation of a new flight deck barrier 61 Bombs falling astern of Ark Royal during an attack by Italian aircraft during the Battle of Cape Spartivento Photograph taken from the cruiser Sheffield Next Ark Royal accompanied by Barham Berwick and Glasgow sailed for Gibraltar arriving on 6 November 61 They were deployed with the rest of Force H to escort convoys from Gibraltar to Alexandria and Malta performing several runs before being assigned to Operation Collar one of 35 convoys to support Malta between 1940 and 1942 on 25 November An Italian fleet led by the battleships Giulio Cesare and Vittorio Veneto was dispatched to intercept the convoy 62 The Italian fleet was detected by a reconnaissance aircraft from Ark Royal and the carrier launched Swordfish torpedo bombers while the capital ships of Force H turned to meet the enemy 63 During the engagement the Battle of Cape Spartivento the Italian destroyer Lanciere was damaged although it is uncertain if torpedoes from the bombers or British gunfire were responsible The British mistook Lanciere for a cruiser while the Italian commanders received incorrect reports that the cruiser Bolzano had been hit 64 British attacks failed to damage any other Italian ships or sink the disabled destroyer and a retaliatory attack by the Italian air force saw Ark Royal as the subject of multiple bombing runs none of which hit 64 The battle had no clear result although the British convoy reached its destination unscathed 65 On 14 December 1940 Ark Royal and Force H were redeployed from Gibraltar to the Atlantic to search the Azores for commerce raiders Ark Royal returned to the Mediterranean on 20 December and escorted the battleship Malaya and merchant ships from Malta until 27 December 66 Force H then became involved in Operation Excess a plan to move convoys through the Mediterranean to support the Western Desert Force which was trying to push Italian land forces from Egypt into Libya Over the next month British control of the Mediterranean theatre was weakened particularly by the entry of the Luftwaffe and the near loss of the aircraft carrier Illustrious 67 The Mediterranean Fleet was under pressure from Axis forces in the Eastern Mediterranean while the British port at Gibraltar was likely to be lost if the Spanish chose to ally with the Germans instead of remaining neutral To relieve the Mediterranean Fleet while demonstrating British strength to the Spanish the Admiralty and Admiral Cunningham planned to use Ark Royal s Swordfish bombers in raids against Italian targets supported by bombardment from heavy fleet units The first bombing on 2 January against the Tirso Dam in Sardinia was unsuccessful but Ark Royal s Swordfish bombers were more successful on 6 January when they bombed the port city of Genoa 68 The carrier s aircraft also covered the battlecruiser Renown and battleship Malaya while they shelled the port On 9 January Ark Royal launched aircraft to bomb an oil refinery at La Spezia and to lay mines in the harbour Both operations were successful 69 Searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau Edit In early February 1941 the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau headed into the Atlantic during Operation Berlin on the orders of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder commander of the German Navy They were to disrupt Allied shipping and draw capital ships from other areas On 8 March Force H and Ark Royal were ordered to the Canary Islands to search for the battleships and to cover convoys crossing from the United States 70 Ark Royal used her aircraft to search for captured ships returning to Germany under the control of prize crews Three ships were located on 19 March two scuttled themselves while the third SS Polykarp reached France 71 On the evening of 21 March 1941 a Fairey Fulmar from Ark Royal stumbled across Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at sea Because of a radio malfunction the crew had to return to Ark Royal to report by which time the German ships had escaped under fog 72 The next day Ark Royal re established air patrols in the hope of re locating the raiders During the day a catapult malfunction destroyed a Fairey Swordfish flinging the fuselage into the sea ahead of the carrier Unable to stop Ark Royal ran over the Swordfish and was overhead when the aircraft s depth charges detonated 73 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau reached Brest without British harassment while Ark Royal returned to Gibraltar for repairs arriving on 24 March 74 Malta convoys and Operation Tiger Edit Ark Royal at sea with the battlecruiser Renown Ark Royal spent April alternating between covering convoys and delivering aircraft to Malta and forays into the Atlantic to hunt commerce raiders By May 1941 Erwin Rommel s Afrika Korps were driving through North Africa towards the Suez Canal pushing the Western Desert Force before them With British forces close to collapse and strategic locations threatened the British High Command risked sending a reinforcement convoy across the Mediterranean to Alexandria The convoy consisted of five large transport ships escorted by Ark Royal the battlecruiser Renown the battleship Queen Elizabeth the cruisers Sheffield Naiad Fiji and Gloucester and screened by destroyers of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla 75 Prior to Ark Royal s departure Captain Holland left to recuperate from stress and poor health and was replaced by Captain Loben Maund 76 The convoy left Gibraltar on 6 May and was detected by Italian aircraft The convoy limited to 14 knots 26 km h 16 mph and escorted by so many capital ships was such a tempting target that Italian and German aircraft were mobilised 77 An intense anti aircraft barrage is visible during an attack by Italian torpedo bombers on Force H Ark Royal is on the left with an Italian aircraft over her bows and HMS Renown to the right The British convoy came under air attack on 8 May first by the Italian air force then the German Luftwaffe Over the day 12 of Ark Royal s Fairey Fulmars the maximum number available drove off over 50 aircraft with the assistance of targeting information from Sheffield s radar and anti aircraft fire from the escorts 78 79 During the initial waves one Fulmar was lost killing Flight Lieutenant Rupert Tillard and Lieutenant Mark Somerville another was destroyed with the aircrew recovered while several others were damaged 80 Consequently only seven were able to face the main Luftwaffe force of 34 aircraft while an attack just before dark was driven off by two aircraft and heavy fire from the ships 80 The convoy survived without serious damage the only casualties were to mines with the Empire Song sunk and New Zealand Star damaged but able to reach port 81 Ark Royal underwent another aerial attack on 12 May during her return to Gibraltar Later that month she and fellow aircraft carrier Furious delivered Hawker Hurricanes to support Malta 82 Hunting the Bismarck Edit See also Last battle of the battleship Bismarck On 18 May 1941 the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen began Operation Rheinubung by breaking into the Atlantic to raid shipping After sinking the battlecruiser Hood and damaging the battleship Prince of Wales during the Battle of the Denmark Strait Bismarck shook off her pursuers and headed for the French Atlantic coast 83 Ark Royal Renown and Sheffield accompanied by destroyers Faulknor Foresight Forester Fortune Foxhound and Fury were dispatched to the Atlantic on 23 May to search for the battleship 84 On 26 May a Swordfish from Ark Royal located Bismarck and began to shadow her while the Home Fleet was mobilised to pursue 85 One of Ark Royal s Fairey Swordfish returns at low level over the sea after making a torpedo attack on Bismarck At the time of detection the British ships were 130 nmi 240 km 150 mi away and would not catch Bismarck before she reached Saint Nazaire putting her safely under the air cover of the Luftwaffe once in range and while being repaired at the Normandie drydock Fifteen Swordfish bombers were armed with torpedoes and sent to delay the ship Sheffield also shadowing Bismarck was between Ark Royal and Bismarck The aircraft mistook the British cruiser for their target and fired torpedoes The torpedoes were fitted with unreliable magnetic detonators which caused most to explode on contact with the water while Sheffield evaded the rest 86 After realising his mistake one of the pilots signalled Sorry for the kipper to Sheffield 87 On return to the carrier the Swordfish were re armed with contact detonator warhead torpedoes and launched at 19 15 for a second attack locating and attacking Bismarck just before sunset Three torpedoes hit the battleship two detonated forward of the engine rooms while the third struck the starboard steering compartment and jammed her rudder in a 15 port turn 88 Bismarck was forced to sail in circles until a combination of alternating propeller speeds was found which would keep her on a reasonably steady course which in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state forced her to sail towards the British warships with almost no manoeuvring capability 89 The German battleship suffered heavy attack during the night of 26 27 May and sank at 10 39 hours on 27 May 90 Escorting the Malta convoys Edit Six Blackburn Skuas of No 800 Squadron Fleet Air Arm lined up on deck before taking off Ark Royal and the ships of Force H returned to Gibraltar on 29 May 1941 Despite the boost in Allied morale from the sinking of the battleship Bismarck the war in the Mediterranean was going against the Allies Greece and Crete had fallen to the Axis Powers and the Afrika Korps was preparing to launch a final push into Egypt Malta remained an important stronghold in the Mediterranean but was coming under increased pressure from Italian and German air attacks and could no longer be supplied from the east since the Battle of Crete 91 Ark Royal was pressed into service delivering aircraft to Malta during several supply runs throughout June and July and escorting the convoys of Operation Substance in July and Operation Halberd in September Despite some losses the convoys succeeded in keeping Malta supplied and fighting 92 The continued Allied presence in Malta was a considerable problem for Rommel in Africa who was losing as much as of his supplies from Italy to submarines and bombers based there 93 Adolf Hitler decided to send a flotilla of U boats into the Mediterranean to attack Allied shipping against the advice of Grossadmiral Raeder 93 Final voyage and sinking EditOn 10 November 1941 Ark Royal ferried more aircraft to Malta before returning to Gibraltar Admiral Somerville had been warned of U boats off the Spanish coast and reminded Force H to be vigilant 94 Also at sea was Friedrich Guggenberger s U 81 which had received a report that Force H was returning to Gibraltar 93 On 13 November at 15 40 the sonar operator aboard the destroyer Legion detected an unidentified sound but assumed it was the propellers of a nearby destroyer One minute later Ark Royal was struck amidships by a torpedo 95 between the fuel bunkers and bomb store and directly below the bridge island 96 The explosion caused Ark Royal to shake hurled loaded torpedo bombers into the air and killed 44 year old Able Seaman Edward Mitchell the only man to die in the sinking 96 The torpedo punched a 130 ft 30 ft 40 m 9 m hole in the ship s bottom and starboard side below the water line after running deep and hitting the bilge keel inboard of the side protection system 97 The hit caused flooding of the starboard boiler room main switchboard oil tanks and over 106 feet 32 m of the ship s starboard bilge The explosion knocked out all internal communications and the starboard power train causing the rear half of the ship to lose power 98 Legion moving alongside the damaged and listing Ark Royal to take off survivors Immediately after the torpedo strike Captain Maund ordered the engines to full stop but with the communications knocked out had to send a runner to the engine room 99 The ship s continued motion enlarged the hole in the hull and by the time Ark Royal stopped she had taken on a great deal of water and begun to list to starboard reaching 18 from centre within 20 minutes 99 Considering the list of the carrier and the fact that other carriers including Courageous and Glorious had sunk rapidly with heavy loss of life Maund gave the order to abandon ship The crew were assembled on the flight deck to determine who would remain on board to try to save the ship while Legion came alongside to take off the rest As a result comprehensive damage control measures were not initiated until 49 minutes after the attack The flooding spread unchecked exacerbated by covers and hatches left open during evacuation of the lower decks 100 Water spread to the centreline boiler room which started to flood from below and power was lost shipwide when the boiler uptakes became choked Ark Royal had no backup diesel generators 101 About half an hour after the explosion the carrier appeared to stabilise Admiral Somerville determined to save Ark Royal ordered damage control parties back to the carrier before taking the battleship Malaya to Gibraltar to organise salvage efforts The damage control parties re lit a boiler restoring power to the bilge pumps The destroyer Laforey came alongside to provide power and additional pumps while Swordfish aircraft from Gibraltar flew overhead to supplement anti submarine patrols 102 The tug Thames arrived from Gibraltar at 20 00 and attached a tow line to Ark Royal but the flooding had caused the ship to list more severely Rising water reached the boiler room fan flat an uninterrupted compartment running the width of the ship This forced the shutdown of the restored boiler 103 Another photograph showing the degree of the list The list reached 20 between 02 05 and 02 30 and when abandon ship was declared again at 04 00 had reached 27 104 Ark Royal s complement had been evacuated to Legion by 04 30 with the exception of Mitchell there were no fatalities The 1 487 officers and crew were transported to Gibraltar 105 The list reached 45 before Ark Royal capsized and sank at 06 19 on 14 November 106 Witnesses reported the carrier rolling to 90 where she remained for three minutes before inverting Ark Royal then broke in two the aft sinking within a couple of minutes followed by the bow 107 Investigation Edit A Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the loss Based on its findings Captain Loben Maund was court martialled in February 1942 He was found guilty on two counts of negligence one of failing to ensure that properly constituted damage control parties had remained on board after the general evacuation and one of failing to ensure the ship was in a sufficient state of readiness to deal with possible damage 108 The board tempered their judgement with an acknowledgement that a high standard was being expected of Maund and that he was primarily concerned with the welfare of his crew 108 The Bucknill Committee which had been set up to investigate the loss of major warships also produced a report This report said that the lack of backup power sources was a major design failure which contributed to the loss Ark Royal depended on electricity for much of her operation and once the boilers and steam driven dynamos were knocked out the loss of power made damage control difficult The committee recommended the design of the bulkheads and boiler intakes be improved to decrease the risk of widespread flooding in boiler rooms and machine spaces while the uninterrupted boiler room flat was criticised The design flaws were rectified in the Illustrious and Implacable class carriers under construction at the time 109 110 The Board of Inquiry closed its report with the observation that Ark Royal had sunk 22 nautical miles 25 mi 41 km east of Europa Point the southernmost tip of Gibraltar This was accepted as the wreck location for 60 years 111 Rediscovery EditThe location of the wreck was undetermined until mid December 2002 when the wreck was discovered by an underwater survey company C amp C Technologies Inc using a sonar equipped autonomous underwater vehicle 30 nautical miles 35 mi 56 km from Gibraltar at about 3 300 feet 1 000 m depth 112 113 The company had been contracted by the BBC as part of a documentary on maritime archaeology related to major battles of the Royal Navy 113 The Ark Royal wreck lies in two main pieces with the stern section sitting upright and the bow section upside down 66 feet 20 m of the bow is separated from the rest of the ship s hull A large debris field which includes the funnel and bridge island parts of the ship that came loose as the carrier sank and aircraft from the hangars lies between the two hull sections Analysis revealed that the port side of the ship hit the seabed first 114 The wreck was found further east than expected Researchers originally thought the wreck had been carried by currents farther into the Mediterranean as she sank that the ship had travelled eastwards underwater before reaching the seabed 115 The presence near the hull pieces of other debris including a Swordfish bomber that was tipped off the flight deck before the ship rolled proved this false If the current had pushed the hull pieces any significant distance sideways as they sank debris would have been spread over a much wider area It seems though that eastward currents had affected her progress towards Gibraltar during the time she was under tow 116 Study of the wreck also showed that restarting the engines to provide power increased the stresses placed on the hull adding to the flooding Once power was then lost it was impossible to prevent the ship from sinking her fate was more the result of design flaws than of the actions of her captain 116 Notes Edit The Washington Naval Treaty signed in February 1922 imposed a limit of 135 000 tons on total British aircraft carrier displacement with no one ship allowed to exceed 33 000 tons and only two to exceed 27 000 tons 117 The London Naval Treaty signed in April 1930 prevented signatories from constructing new capital ships or converting existing capital ships into aircraft carriers until 1937 118 Citations Edit David A Thomas Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy Kindle edition a b Friedman British Carrier Aviation Appendix A Ark Royal entered service with four 8 barrelled mountings but by October 1941 all six mountings were in place a b c d Rossiter Ark Royal pp 43 44 a b c d e f Bishop amp Chant Aircraft carriers p 45 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 48 51 Friedman When the flight deck becomes the strength deck the aircraft hangars are then enclosed within the hull structure The terms enclosed and open hangars do not strictly speaking refer to a hangar that is closed or open on the sides but rather to whether the hangar is respectively below or above the strength deck Friedman The flight deck was designed with 75 in of Ducol steel The enclosed hangar design required a deck of approximately this thickness to ensure adequate hull integrity so the limited armour protection was a by product of the enclosed hangar design The strength deck is designed to carry structural loading in combination with the hull girder and side and bottom plating Ship s structure above the strength deck is termed superstructure Ducol steel was an advanced type of high tensile steel which had great strength and was often used to provide armour for splinter protection a b Jameson Ark Royal p 16 a b Rossiter Ark Royal pp 48 49 Garzke Allied Battleships pp 364 365 Friedman British Carrier Aviation p 121 a b c d e f g h i j Mason HMS Ark Royal Fleet Aircraft Carrier Archived from the original on 29 September 2016 Rossiter Ark Royal p 47 Rossiter Ark Royal p 45 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark Gregory 2017 The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain 1209 to Present New Series MeasuringWorth Retrieved 11 June 2022 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 45 46 Rossiter Ark Royal p 46 a b Colledge amp Warlow Ships of the Royal Navy p 21 Rossiter Ark Royal p 41 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 61 62 Friedman p 123 a b Westwood Fighting Ships of World War II p 66 Rossiter Ark Royal p 47 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 47 48 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 112 Brown et al Carrier Operations p 15 a b Edwards Donitz and the Wolf Packs p 18 a b c d Rossiter Ark Royal pp 74 77 a b c d e Rossiter Ark Royal pp 75 78 a b c Edwards Donitz and the wolf packs p 87 Rossiter Ark Royal p 81 Rossiter Ark Royal p 82 Bekker The Luftwaffe War Diaries pp 75 76 a b c Rossiter Ark Royal pp 84 85 Balfour Propaganda in War 1939 1945 pp 158 159 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 88 89 Jameson Ark Royal p 53 Mitchell The Empire Ships p 431 a b Jameson Ark Royal p 42 a b Rossiter Ark Royal pp 94 96 a b c Rossiter Ark Royal p 99 a b Jameson Ark Royal p 97 Rossiter Ark Royal p 117 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 119 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 120 121 Jameson Ark Royal p 137 Jameson Ark Royal pp 140 141 Rossiter Ark Royal p 128 Jameson Ark Royal p 154 Rossiter Ark Royal p 132 Rossiter Ark Royal p 136 Rossiter Ark Royal p 138 Jameson Ark Royal p 170 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 179 Rossiter Ark Royal p 180 Jameson Ark Royal pp 185 187 Jameson Ark Royal pp 192 193 Rossiter Ark Royal p 190 Jameson Ark Royal pp 212 15 Jameson Ark Royal pp 222 225 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 192 Jameson Ark Royal p 230 Jameson Ark Royal pp 236 258 a b Jameson Ark Royal p 239 O Hara Struggle pp 72 74 Rossiter Ark Royal p 210 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 218 219 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 222 226 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 228 230 Jameson Ark Royal pp 259 260 Jameson Ark Royal p 260 Jameson Ark Royal pp 260 262 Rossiter Ark Royal p 242 Rossiter Ark Royal p 243 Jameson Ark Royal pp 268 269 Jameson Ark Royal p 266 Jameson Ark Royal p 269 Jameson Ark Royal pp 271 274 Rossiter Ark Royal p 258 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 249 Jameson Ark Royal p 274 Jameson Ark Royal pp 276 277 Jameson Ark Royal pp 279 290 Jameson Ark Royal p 294 Jameson Ark Royal p 296 Jameson Ark Royal pp 299 300 Stephen Sea Battles p 90 Jameson Ark Royal pp 303 305 Garzke Axis Battleships pp 235 236 Williamson German Battleships pp 33 34 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 316 317 Jameson Ark Royal p 318 a b c Rossiter Ark Royal p 327 Jameson Ark Royal p 337 Rossiter Ark Royal p 329 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 332 Friedman British Carrier Aviation p 126 Paterson U Boats p 38 a b Jameson Ark Royal p 338 Jameson Ark Royal pp 338 340 Rossiter Ark Royal p 345 Jameson Ark Royal p 342 Jameson Ark Royal pp 343 345 Jameson Ark Royal p 346 Duffy Target America p 136 Jameson Ark Royal p 348 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 375 376 a b Rossiter Ark Royal pp 372 437 Papers of Admiral Sir Hugh Binney reports of Second Bucknill Committee relating to loss of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Ark Royal 1941 1942 held at Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives King s College London Rossiter Ark Royal p 374 Rossiter Ark Royal p 30 Warren Daniel Church Robert Davey Rick September 2004 Discovering H M S Ark Royal PDF Hydro International Retrieved 10 August 2016 a b Film team finds wreck of Ark Royal BBC News 19 December 2002 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 368 369 Rossiter Ark Royal pp 168 169 a b Rossiter Ark Royal p 377 Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States pp 247 66 Reproduced in Goldman Sunken treaties pp 307 19 References EditBooks Edit Balfour Michael 1979 Propaganda in War 1939 1945 Organisation Policies and Publics in Britain and Germany London Routledge amp Kegan Paul ISBN 0 7100 0193 2 OCLC 5373844 Bekker Cajus 1969 The Luftwaffe War Diaries Zielger Frank trans London Corgi ISBN 0 552 08236 8 OCLC 30270475 Bishop Chris Chant Christopher 2004 Aircraft Carriers The World s Greatest Naval Vessels and Their Aircraft Grand Rapids MI Zenith ISBN 0 7603 2005 5 OCLC 56646560 Retrieved 22 July 2008 Brown David Brown J D Hobbs David 2009 Carrier Operations in World War II Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 59114 108 2 Chesneau Roger 1984 Aircraft Carriers of the World 1914 to the Present An Illustrated Encyclopedia Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 902 2 OCLC 11018793 Colledge J J Warlow Ben 2006 1969 Ships of the Royal Navy The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy Rev ed London Chatham Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 281 8 Duffy James P 2006 2004 Target America Hitler s Plan to Attack the United States 3rd ed New York Lyons ISBN 1 59228 934 7 OCLC 70264388 Edwards Bernard 1999 1996 Donitz and the Wolf Packs the U boats at war 2nd ed London Cassell ISBN 0 304 35203 9 OCLC 41465151 Friedman Norman 1988 British Carrier Aviation The Evolution of the Ships and their Aircraft Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 054 8 Garzke William John Dulin 1990 Battleships Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 0 87021 101 0 Garzke William H Dulin Robert O Jr Webb Thomas G 1980 Allied Battleships in World War II Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 100 5 Goldman Emily O 1994 Sunken Treaties Naval Arms Control Between the Wars University Park PA Pennsylvania State University ISBN 0 271 01034 7 OCLC 28723444 Jameson William 1 April 2004 1957 Ark Royal The Life of an Aircraft Carrier at War 1939 41 2nd ed Periscope Publishing ISBN 1 904381 27 8 Lenton H T 1998 British and Empire Warships of the Second World War London Greenhill Books ISBN 1 85367 277 7 Mitchell William Harry Sawyer Leonard Arthur 1990 The Empire Ships A Record of British built and Acquired Merchant Ships During the Second World War Lloyd s of London Press ISBN 1 85044 275 4 O Hara Vincent 2009 Struggle for the Middle Sea Vol 1 Annapolis MD Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 59114 648 3 Conference on the Limitation of Armament Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States Vol I Washington US G P O 1922 pp 247 66 OCLC 24045525 Retrieved 4 June 2010 Paterson Lawrence 2007 U boats in the Mediterranean 1941 1944 Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 59114 893 7 Poolman Kenneth 1956 Ark Royal Wm Kimber amp Co Ltd Rossiter Mike 2007 2006 Ark Royal The Life Death and Rediscovery of the Legendary Second World War Aircraft Carrier 2nd ed London Corgi Books ISBN 978 0 552 15369 0 OCLC 81453068 Sullivan David M amp Sturton Ian 2010 Extraordinary Views of HMS Glorious and HMS Ark Royal Warship International XLVII 3 257 62 ISSN 0043 0374 Stephen Martin 1988 Sea Battles in Close Up World War 2 Vol 1 Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 556 6 Westwood J N 1975 1971 Fighting Ships of World War II London Sidgwick and Jackson for Book Club Associates ISBN 0 283 98287 X OCLC 2090062 Williamson Gordon 2003 German Battleships 1939 45 Oxford Osprey Publishing ISBN 978 1 84176 498 6 Websites Edit Film team finds wreck of Ark Royal BBC News BBC 19 December 2002 Retrieved 4 June 2010 Mason Geoffrey B 2003 HMS Ark Royal Fleet Aircraft Carrier Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 Naval History Net Archived from the original on 7 April 2010 Retrieved 4 June 2010 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Ark Royal 91 category HMS Ark Royal Operational History and Photos Video of HMS Ark Royal engaging high level bombers with her AA armament Picture of Ark Royal sinking with Swordfish on deck Portals United Kingdom World War II Coordinates 36 3 N 4 45 W 36 050 N 4 750 W 36 050 4 750 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Ark Royal 91 amp oldid 1144211502, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.