END OF ARK ROYAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 November 1941, Page 5

END OF ARK ROYAL

FAMOUS SHIP TORPEDOED AND LOST After Being “Sunk” Many Times by Nazi Propagandists CASUALTIES REPORTED VERY LIGHT AIRCRAFT CARRIER’S FINE RECORD OF SERVICE / _ LONDON, November 14. AFTER BEING “SUNK” ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS BY ENEMY PROPAGANDISTS, THE FAMOUS BRITISH AIRCRAFT-CARRIER ARK ROYAL HAS REALLY BEEN SUNK, HAPPILY WITH LIGHT CASUALTIES. THE ARK ROYAL FOUNDERED UNDER TOW, AFTER BEING TORPEDOED BY A U-BOAT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. Mr A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, tonight described the loss of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal as a blow to the Royal Navy, but said he had been cheered to hear that the casualties were very light. During the Ark Royal’s years of service her planes destroyed over 100 enemy planes. The “Old Ark’’ as the sailors called her, the First Lord added, had given the nation a rich dividend. Her planes had ranged the ocean in the hunting of the Graf Spee and U-boats, she had covered the landing in Norway and had a lot to do with the finishing off of the German battleship Bismarck. The Ark Royal was attacked by a U-boat in the Mediterranean while returning to Gibraltar. She was struck by a torpedo early last evening. At first it was hoped that she could be taken into port, but she developed a heavy list and eventually sank while under tow. She had a normal complement of 1,600 men, but casualties were not heavy. A very large part of the ship’s company was taken off after the torpedo had found its mark. German propagandists have so often “sunk’’ the Ark Royal that now they have nothing to say at all. Officials in Berlin stated that they had no news of the Ark Royal except the British announcement. There is no news of the U-boat which torpedoed the Ark Royal and it seems that the U-boat commander either did not know of his achievement or else that he did not survive. The Italians had particular reason to fear the Ark Royal. During the fierce naval bombardment of Genoa, for instance, planes from the Ark Royal dropped several tons of bombs on the port. In the pursuit of the Italian fleet off Sardinia last year, planes from the Ark Royal attacked a battleship, several cruisers and a number of destroyers. The Ark Royal is the third aircraft-carrier lost by Britain since the war began. The Ark Royal took more Ilian, two years and a half to build, at a cost of over £3,000,000. She was launched in 1937. With a displacement of 27,000 tons when fully loaded, she had a maximum speed of 32 knots. She was a dangerous target for enemy bombers, carrying extremely powerful A.A. armament. Iler flight deck was 800 feet long, and she normally carried between 60 and 70 aircraft.