The Ships of Battlegroup: Great Britain Ark Royal (CV)

Displacement	22,000 tons	Belt Armor	4.5 inches
Overall Length	800 feet	Deck Armor (spread over three decks)	8.5 inches
Beam	96 feet	Aircraft Complement	60
Speed	31 knots	Main Guns	16 × 4.5″

Laid down on September 16, 1935, launched on April 13, 1937 and commissioned on November 16, 1938, Ark Royal was Great Britain’s first purpose-built, large aircraft carrier. The dual-purpose guns were set in eight twin mounts along both sides of the flight deck paired forward and aft. They and the six eight-barreled 2-pounder mounts were considered to provide effective antiaircraft cover in their day.

As the premier modern British aircraft carrier (the first to join the fleet since 1930), she was very much a prototype in many ways. Her three elevators were a useful modern feature but were too small to handle increasingly larger naval aircraft, limiting the types of aircraft she could carry. Her armored flight and hanger decks made the ship very strong and well-protected from bombs but limited the size of her air group. The first of many ships of the name to serve England and Great Britain was built for Sir Walter Raleigh and originally named the Ark Raleigh. Purchased into the Elizabethan Royal Navy, she was renamed the Ark Royal and served as a flagship during the battles with the Spanish Armada in 1588.

As Great Britain’s most capable aircraft carrier in the first years of the war, Ark Royal was repeatedly in the thick of the action. In 1939, she was missed by an attacking U-boat and by German aircraft (the Germans announced she had been sunk) and steamed to the South Atlantic searching for the pocket battleship Graf Spee. She participated during spring 1940 in the actions off Norway and then joined Force "H" operating out of Gibraltar; participating in the Battle of Mers el Kebir where one her aircraft torpedoed French battlecruiser Dunkerque . This was followed by attacks on Cagliari Harbor (August 2, 1940), Dakar (September 23–25, 1940) and an Italian squadron off Cape Spartivento (November 27, 1940).

In 1941, she unsuccessfully chased the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Atlantic, ferried Hurricane fighter planes to Malta and, in May, a Swordfish from carrier landed the crippling blow to Bismarck which jammed her rudder. She spent most of her remaining time in the Mediterranean as part of Force "H" and the repeated efforts to keep Malta supplied. During one such operation on November 13, 1941, she crossed paths with German U-boat U-81 and came off second best. Progressive flooding from the torpedo hits drowned out her engines and she eventually capsized and sank off Gibraltar the following day. The components of Ark Royal’s air group varied greatly during her wartime career. She carried between three and six squadrons, split between Swordfish, Skua and Fulmar types. If the biplane Swordfish ("Stringbags") seemed especially old-fashioned, the British did have an effective aerial torpedo for them to carry and their attacks were pressed home with great courage and skill.

For a contemporary foreign aircraft carriers, see: Enterprise, Hiryu and Soryu .

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits.