RN Aircraft Carriers: Classless

[Pelican]

HONG KONG, 1938, HMS EAGLE and possibly HMS BIRMINGHAM.

[Brian James]

HMS Ark Royal pictured in the Gladstone Graving Dock at Liverpool in 1938.

[Brian James]

Launch day pictured for HMS Ark Royal at Cammell Laird Shipyards, Birkenhead on Merseyside and her movement to the fitting out wharf on April 13th 1937

[Brian James]

HM Dockyard Devonport blueprint for Carrier HMS Argus, dated December 24th 1938.

[Brian James]

Director of Naval Construction Department blueprint for Carrier HMS Hermes, date stamped August 1918.

[Pelican]

HMS Ark Royal – The Life And Legacy Of A Naval Giant

HMS Ark Royal, commissioned in 1938, was one of the first purpose-built aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, known for its innovative design features such as an enclosed “hangar” deck and an “island” superstructure.

She played a significant role in several key operations of World War II, including the Battle of Taranto and the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck.

The HMS Ark Royal met a tragic end during World War II. On 13th November 1941, while returning from a mission delivering aircraft to Malta, the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 near Gibraltar.

Continues at - https://navalhistoria.com/hms-ark-royal ... kAxEL08WG4

[Pelican]

The Ark Royal is launched on Merseyside, 13th April, 1937.

Her huge bows tower to her iron flight deck 800 feet long and 94 across. She took three years and three months to build and cost £2,330,000

[Pelican]

HMS EAGLE Pennant No. 94

[Brian James]

Computerised graphic of HMS Hermes c1935.

[Pelican]

U.S. Naval Institute

OTD in 1973, an explosion in the tubes caused the Soviet guided missile destroyer Kanin 252 to fire a torpedo while shadowing HMS Hermes during the NATO "Swift Move" exercises.
Fortunately, the destroyer turned away from Hermes at high speed just before the torpedo launched.