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Italian bombs fall
near Ark Royal
during the Battle
of Cape Spartivento,
taken from the
cruiser Sheffield on
November 27, 1940.
LEFT
A partially
constructed Ark
Royal under tow.
following the Spanish Civil War and
conflict in Abyssinia.
However, once the war against
Germany was under way, she joined
the Home Fleet, tasked with staving off
U-boats, which were already causing
great damage to British shipping in
the North Western Approaches. The
strategy of the time was to deploy
‘hunter-killer’ flotillas comprising a
cluster of destroyers and other anti-
submarine craft centred upon a carrier,
which provided air support.
It was in this capacity that Ark Royal
was involved in the very first U-boat
kill of the war on September 14, 1939.
Coming to the aid of cargo ship SS
Fanad Head, which was under attack
from U-30, Ark Royal was herself
picked up by another U-boat, U-39.
Quick thinking saved the carrier,
which turned towards two approaching
torpedoes, narrowly avoiding a direct
hit. U-39 would succumb to depth
charges from the flotilla’s F-class
destroyers but only after its crew had
escaped. Meanwhile, Fanad Head was
sunk by a torpedo from U-30, and
two Blackburn Skua dive-bombers
launched from Ark Royal crashed in
the action, leaving two crew dead and
the two airmen captured by the fleeing
submarine.
The sinking of U-39 was a fantastic
morale booster, but nothing compared
with the Kriegsmarine’s own
propaganda victory that followed. Just
three days later, another of the Royal
Navy’s key carriers, HMS Courageous,
was sunk by a U-boat in a similar
episode, killing more than 500 crew.
With one near miss and a sinking in
quick succession, the hunter-killer
strategy was deemed too risky for
carriers and swiftly discontinued.
Displacement: 22,000 long tons / 27,720 long
tons (loaded)
Length: 721ft (waterline)/800ft
(220m/244m)
Beam: 94ft 9.6in (29m)
Draught: 27.8ft 9.6in (8.5m)
Speed: 31 knots (designed as 30 knots)
Range: 7,600 nautical miles (14,075km)
Complement: 1,580 men
Aircraft capacity: Up to 60 (designed for 72)
Key data
ARK ROYAL (91)
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