The Ark Royal was frequently in the Newspaper headlines and received many battle honours. The honour of the first enemy aircraft shot down by a Fleet Air Arm aircraft went to one of Ark's Blackburn Skuas in late September 1939, then on 10 April 1940 her aircraft achieved another first when they bombed and sank the German light cruiser Konigsberg - the first instance of a major vessel being sunk by air attack.
After participating in the ill-fated Norwegian campaign, Ark Royal moved to the Mediterranean, where she became the nucleus of Admiral Somerville's Force "H", and in July 1940 her aircraft took part in the operations against the French warships at Mers-el-Kebir, near Oran, mining the marked channel to the port and carrying out torpedo attacks on the battlescruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg. On 1 August, 1940 her aircraft bombed Cagliari, then in September were in action against French ships at Dakar. In November 1940, she saw action agianst the Italian fleet off Cape Spartivento, then from February to April 1941 Force "H" carried out an unsuccessful search for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Atlantic.
In May 1941, Ark's aircraft were involved in the hunt for and destruction of the German Battleship Bismarck, her Swordfish scoring the two torpedo hits that jammed the battleship's rudder and slowed her sufficiently for the Home Fleet to catch and destroy her on 26 May 1941. After carrying out aircraft ferry runs to Malta and escorting two vital convoys to the island, Ark Royal's luck finally ran out on 13 November 1941 when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar. She was eventually taken in tow, but when only 20 miles from Gibraltar - and 13 hours after she had been torpedoed - she capsized and sank.
Battle honours and Service History:
Anti-submarine patrols off Northern Ireland Sepember 1939; missed by 2 torpedoes from U39; 14 September near-miss by bomb from German aircraft; 26 September Germans announce Ark Royal sunk for first of many times anti-raider patrols in South Atlantic; October 1939-February 1940; Norwegian campaign April-June 1940; aircraft sink German light cruiser Konigsberg 10 April; strike Trondheim 12 June; with Force "H" in Mediterranean Jun.-Oct. 1940; refit at Gibraltar July 1940; strike on Cagliari harbour 2 Aug. 1940; Dakar operation 23-25 September 1940; refit UK October-November 1940; action off Cape Spartivento November 1940; search for German heavy units in Atlantic; February-April 1941 ferried Hurricanes to Malta; May 1941 aircraft torpedo Bismarck 26 May 1941; ferried Hurricanes to Malta Jun.-Nov. 1941; strike against Sardinia 24 August 1941; strikes against Genoa, Leghorn and Spezia 9 September 1941; hit by one torpedo from U81 13 November 1941; sank 13nm from Gibraltar 14 November 1941, under tow.
RAF_Cobber's Ark Royal recompiled in fsdv2 to Eliminate the fsdsv1 setscale bug.
Submitted by The Virtual Navy
After participating in the ill-fated Norwegian campaign, Ark Royal moved to the Mediterranean, where she became the nucleus of Admiral Somerville's Force "H", and in July 1940 her aircraft took part in the operations against the French warships at Mers-el-Kebir, near Oran, mining the marked channel to the port and carrying out torpedo attacks on the battlescruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg. On 1 August, 1940 her aircraft bombed Cagliari, then in September were in action against French ships at Dakar. In November 1940, she saw action agianst the Italian fleet off Cape Spartivento, then from February to April 1941 Force "H" carried out an unsuccessful search for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Atlantic.
In May 1941, Ark's aircraft were involved in the hunt for and destruction of the German Battleship Bismarck, her Swordfish scoring the two torpedo hits that jammed the battleship's rudder and slowed her sufficiently for the Home Fleet to catch and destroy her on 26 May 1941. After carrying out aircraft ferry runs to Malta and escorting two vital convoys to the island, Ark Royal's luck finally ran out on 13 November 1941 when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar. She was eventually taken in tow, but when only 20 miles from Gibraltar - and 13 hours after she had been torpedoed - she capsized and sank.
Battle honours and Service History:
Anti-submarine patrols off Northern Ireland Sepember 1939; missed by 2 torpedoes from U39; 14 September near-miss by bomb from German aircraft; 26 September Germans announce Ark Royal sunk for first of many times anti-raider patrols in South Atlantic; October 1939-February 1940; Norwegian campaign April-June 1940; aircraft sink German light cruiser Konigsberg 10 April; strike Trondheim 12 June; with Force "H" in Mediterranean Jun.-Oct. 1940; refit at Gibraltar July 1940; strike on Cagliari harbour 2 Aug. 1940; Dakar operation 23-25 September 1940; refit UK October-November 1940; action off Cape Spartivento November 1940; search for German heavy units in Atlantic; February-April 1941 ferried Hurricanes to Malta; May 1941 aircraft torpedo Bismarck 26 May 1941; ferried Hurricanes to Malta Jun.-Nov. 1941; strike against Sardinia 24 August 1941; strikes against Genoa, Leghorn and Spezia 9 September 1941; hit by one torpedo from U81 13 November 1941; sank 13nm from Gibraltar 14 November 1941, under tow.
RAF_Cobber's Ark Royal recompiled in fsdv2 to Eliminate the fsdsv1 setscale bug.
Submitted by The Virtual Navy
