H.M.S. ARK ROYAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 101, 2 May 1939, Page 8

H.M.S. ARK ROYAL.

HUGE AIRCRAFT CARRIER.

H.M.S. Ark Royal, the first aircraft carrier to be wholly designed ae euch, has a flying deck 800 feet Ion?, on which, according to her captain, the landing of aircraft is safer than driving a car on English roade.

Sir Stanley Goodall, Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty, in London recently read a paper describing H.M.S. Ark Royal. Her water-line length is 721 ft. Her armament consists of eixteen 4$ in dual purpose guns —both high and low angle—and four pom-poms. She has a heavy armoured deck, side-armour adequate against medium gune, and improved under-wate? protection: 103,000 horse-power on throe shafts give her a epeed in trials of 31} knots, and special attention has been given to rapid manoeuvring. Auxiliary machinery is both electric and hydraulic.

Special fittings for aircraft include two catapults at the fore end of the flying deck, arresting wires at the after end for aircraft landing on, hydraulic-ally operated windscreen* which fold down flat when necessary, and three two-storey lifts which take aircraft with their wings folded. Electric welding was used extensively in her construction, and made it possible to save r>oo tons of weight.

Viee-Adiniral Sir George Prcece, Kiifrincer-in-Cliiof of the Xavy, sukl that owing to the newcieiity for rapid manoeuvring when operating aircraft, it was found necessary to have two engineer oft'iccra of the watch, one for general control and one for direct supervision. The former Avas provided with a sound-proof control cabin in which were contained all telegraphs, gauges and indicators to and from bridge, engine room and boiler rooms.

Captain A. J. Power described the chip's, behaviour in service. He said that the threeshaft arrangement of propellers —an innovation in naval practice —rave great except in very shallow harbouro. The large rudder immediately abaft the centre propeller was invaluable when turning at rest. In the last cruise 1400 aircraft landings on deck had been made without a man being scratched; landing on, indeed, was safer than driving a ear on English roads. In emergency he had landed on nine aircraft in eleven minutee. The accommodation provided by the designers was good, though it had been a difficult problem, for he had more offieere than he had able seamen.