THE ARK ROYAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 120, 24 May 1939, Page 9

THE ARK ROYAL

BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICE

At the annual session of the ""Institute of-Naval Architects, Sir Stanley Goodall, Director of Naval Construction at'the Admiralty, read a paper describing H.M.S. Ark Royal, the tag aircraft-carrier to-be wholly designed as such, says "The Times." On a water-, line length of 721 ft she has a flying deck 800 ft in length, which has proved in practice to be very satisfactory to the flying men. Her armament consists of 16 4£in dual. purpose j guns— both high and low angle—and four pom-poms. She has a heavy armoured deck, side-armour adequate against medium guns, and improved underwater protection: 103,000 horse-power on three shafts gave her a speed m trials of 31? knots, and special atten4ion had been , given to rapid manoeuvring.: Auxiliary machinery was 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, hydraulically operated windscreens 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 500 tons of weight. OFFICERS OF THE WATCH. In the discussion which followed Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir George Preece, Engineer-in-Chie^ of the Navy, gave some interesting* details of machinery arrangements, and paid a tribute to the assistance and advice received from engineers outside the Navy. He said that owing to the necessity for rapid manoeuvring when operating aircraft it was found necessary- to have, two engineer. officers of the watch, one for .. general control and one for direct supervision. The former was provided with a soundproof control cabin in which were contained all telegraphs, gauges, and mdi-, cators to and from bridge, engineroom, and boiler-rooms. • Captain A. J. Bower, the captain ot the ship, described her behaviour in service. He said that the three-shaft, arrangement of propellers—an innovation in naval practice—gave great handiness except in very shallow harbours. 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 car on English roads. In an emergency he had landed on nine aircraft m eleven minutes. The accommodation provided by the designers was good, though it had been a difficult problem, for he had more officers than he had able seamen.