#ww2 #worldwar2 #aircraftcarrier #battleship #warship #royalnavy

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

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.

Hunting the Bismarck
See also: Last battle of the battleship 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 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 nautical miles (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]