ARK ROYAL SUNK

Southland Times, Issue 24593, 15 November 1941, Page 7

ARK ROYAL SUNK

SHIP TORPEDOED LOST WHILE BEING TOWED (Rec. 1.15 a.m.) LONDON Nov. 14. The aircraft-carrier Ark Royal has been sunk. This announcement was made one hour ago by the Admiralty, which stated that the Ark Royal sank while in tow after being torpedoed. A large proportion of her complement of more than 1500 was taken off and casualties will not be heavy. Time and time again Germany and Italy have claimed to have sunk the Ark Royal, but strangely enough on this occasion neither Berlin nor Rome has had anything to say. The announcement came from London. The Ark Royal is the third aircraftcarrier lost in this war, the others being the Courageous, which was torpedoed and sunk in 1939, and the Glorious, which was sunk by enemy cruisers off Norway. The Ark Royal took three years to build, construction beginning in September 1935 and being completed, in September 1938. She was of particularly modern design and her tonnage was 22,000. The flight deck was 800 feet long and 9-1 feet wide. The ship’s complement was 1575. The Ark Royal presented a dangerous target to Axis aircraft as her armament consisted of 16 4.5 inch dual purpose guns, four - 3 pounders and six multiple pompoms and machine guns. Her engines, of 102,000 h.p., gave a speed of about 31 knots.

Sixty aircraft were carried in hangers arranged on two decks. A feature of the ship was the elaborate fire-fighting equipment installed. The total cost of the Ark Royal was £3,215,639.