HMS Ark Royal was a British aircraft carrier launched in 1937 and commissioned in 1938. She was 244 meters (800 feet) long with a full-load displacement of around 28,000 tons. Powered by steam turbines, she could reach speeds of 30 knots (56 km/h or 35 mph).


She carried around 60 aircraft, including fighters like the Fairey Fulmar and bombers like the Swordfish. Ark Royal featured an armored flight deck, island superstructure, and was among the first carriers designed from the keel up as a carrier — not converted from another ship.


Ark Royal played key roles in early WWII — hunting the Bismarck, supporting operations in Norway and Malta, and launching attacks on Italian and German naval forces. In November 1941, she was torpedoed by U-81 off Gibraltar and sank the next day. Miraculously, only one crewman was lost.