HMS Furious (47)
Furious circa 1935–1936
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Furious |
Namesake | Fury |
Builder | Armstrong Whitworth, Wallsend |
Laid down | 8 June 1915 |
Launched | 18 August 1916 |
Commissioned | 26 June 1917 |
Reclassified | As aircraft carrier, September 1925 |
Identification | Pennant number: 47 |
Motto | Ministrat arma furor (Latin: "Fury supplies arms")[2] |
Nickname(s) | Spurious[1] |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 1948 |
Badge | On a Black Field an eagle's head White, langued Red, armed Gold.[2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Courageous-class battlecruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 88 ft (26.8 m) |
Draught | 24 ft 11 in (7.6 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines |
Speed | 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph) |
Complement | 737 officers and ratings |
Armament |
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Armour |
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General characteristics (as completed in 1925) | |
Class and type | Courageous-class aircraft carrier |
Displacement |
|
Length | 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 88 ft (26.8 m) |
Draught | 27 ft 3 in (8.3 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 4 shafts, 4 geared steam turbines |
Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
Range | 7,480 nmi (13,850 km; 8,610 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 795 (1939) |
Armament |
|
Armour |
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Aircraft carried | 36 |
HMS Furious was a modified
After her conversion, Furious was used extensively for trials of naval aircraft, and later as a training ship once large, modern fleet carriers such as
At first, Furious made several trips to
Furious spent most of 1943 training, but made a number of attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and other targets in Norway during the first half of 1944. By September 1944, the ship was showing her age and she was placed in reserve. Furious was decommissioned in April 1945, but was not sold for scrap until 1948.
Design and description
During the First World War, Admiral Fisher was prevented from ordering an improved version of the preceding Renown-class battlecruisers by a wartime restriction that banned construction of ships larger than light cruisers. To obtain ships suitable for traditional battlecruiser roles, such as scouting for fleets and hunting enemy raiders, he settled on ships with the minimal armour of a light cruiser and the armament of a battlecruiser. He justified their existence by claiming he needed fast, shallow-draught ships for his Baltic Project, a plan to invade Germany via its Baltic coast.[3][4]
Furious had an
Furious was designed to normally carry 750 long tons (762 t) of
Even as she was being built, Furious was modified with a large hangar capable of housing ten aircraft on her forecastle that replaced the forward turret. A 160-foot (49 m) flight deck was built along its roof. Aircraft were flown off and, rather less successfully, landed on this deck. Floatplanes like the Short Type 184 used a four-wheel trolley that ran down a track along the centre of the flight deck for take-off. Aircraft were lifted by crane from the hangar to the flight deck. Although the aft turret was fitted and the gun tested, it was not long before Furious returned to her builders for further modifications. In November 1917, the rear turret was replaced by a 300-foot (91 m) deck for landing aircraft over another hangar.[8] Her funnel and superstructure remained intact, with a narrow strip of decking around them to connect the fore and aft flight decks.[9] Turbulence from the funnel and superstructure was severe enough that only three landing attempts were successful before further attempts were forbidden.[10] Her 18-inch guns were reused on the Lord Clive-class monitors General Wolfe and Lord Clive during the war.[11]
Furious was
Aircraft landing and the First World War
On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup on Furious, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. On 7 August, he made another landing in the same manner, but on his third attempt the engine choked and the aircraft crashed off the starboard bow into the sea and he was drowned. The deck arrangement was unsatisfactory because aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure to land.[14] Dunning's replacement as the head of Furious' air group, Frederick Rutland, performed a landing in the same manner as Dunning, after which he stopped these experiments, reporting to the Admiralty that the average lifespan of a pilot making a landing like this would be ten landings, in good weather.[15]
The three Courageous-class ships were assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (CS) in October 1917 when the Admiralty received word of German ship movements on 16 October, possibly indicating a raid. Admiral David Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyers to sea to locate the enemy ships. Furious was detached from the 1st CS and ordered to sweep along the 56th parallel as far as 4° East and to return before dark. Courageous and Glorious were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the North Sea later that day.[16] Two German Brummer-class light cruisers managed to slip through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed the Scandinavia convoy during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st CS was ordered to intercept the German ships, but they proved to be faster than expected and the British ships were unsuccessful.[17]
Furious returned to the dockyard in November to have the aft turret removed and replaced by another deck for landing, giving her both a launching and a recovery deck. Two lifts (elevators) serving the hangars were also installed. Furious was recommissioned on 15 March 1918, and her embarked aircraft were used on anti-Zeppelin patrols in the North Sea after May. In July 1918, she flew off seven Sopwith Camels which participated in the Tondern raid, attacking the Zeppelin sheds there with moderate success.[18]
Conversion
Overview
Furious was laid up after the war, but was converted to an aircraft carrier with a continuous flight deck between June 1921 and September 1925. Her design was based on experience gained with the first two British carriers, Argus and Eagle,[19] although this was very limited as Argus was less than three years old[20] and Eagle had carried out only 143 deck landings during her preliminary sea trials in 1920.[21]
The ship's superstructure, masts, funnel and landing deck were removed and she was given a 576-by-92-foot (175.6 by 28.0 m) flight deck that extended over three-quarters of her length. This flight deck was not level; it sloped upwards about three-quarters of the way from the stern to help slow down landing aircraft, which had no brakes at that time. The fore-and-aft 320-foot (97.5 m) arresting gear was not intended to stop landing aircraft—the landing speeds of the time were low enough that this was unnecessary given a good headwind—but rather to prevent aircraft from veering off to one side and potentially falling off the flight deck.[22] Various designs for the flight deck were tested in a wind tunnel by the National Physical Laboratory which showed that the distinctive elliptical shape and rounded edges used minimised turbulence.[23]
Furious was not lengthened, but her beam was increased 1 foot (0.3 m) to 89 feet .75 inches (27.1 m)[2] and her average draught was now 27 feet 3 inches (8.3 m) at deep load, 2 feet (0.6 m) deeper than before the conversion. She displaced 22,500 long tons (22,861 t) at normal load and 26,500 long tons (26,925 t) at deep load, over 3000 long tons more than her previous displacement. Her metacentric height was 3.6 feet (1.1 m) at deep load, a reduction of 1.48 feet (0.5 m) after her conversion.[5][24] During the ship's post-conversion sea trials she reached 30.03 knots (55.62 km/h; 34.56 mph).[25] Her fuel capacity was increased by 700 long tons (710 t) during her reconstruction, which increased her range to 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km; 6,100 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)[22] or 7,480 nautical miles (13,850 km; 8,610 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[26]
A two-level hangar was built under the flight deck, 15 feet (4.6 m) in height per level. The lower hangar was 550 feet (167.6 m) long by 35–50 feet (10.7–15.2 m) wide and the upper was 520 by 50 feet (158.5 by 15.2 m). Each hangar could be sectioned off by electrically operated steel shutters on rollers. Her boilers were ducted down the side of the ship to exhaust either out of gratings at the rear of the flight deck or, when landing operations were in progress, out of the side of the lower hangar at the rear of the ship. This solution proved to be very unsatisfactory as it consumed valuable space, made parts of the lower hangar unbearable and interfered with landing operations to a greater or lesser degree. Her original flying-off deck remained in place for use by small aircraft like
Two 47-by-46-foot (14.3 by 14.0 m) lifts (elevators) were installed to transfer aircraft between the flight deck and hangars. No arresting gear was fitted and two 600-imperial-gallon (2,700 L; 720 US gal) ready-use
Armament
Furious retained ten of her original eleven
The 5.5-inch and 4-inch guns were replaced during her refit in early 1939 by a dozen
A single
Inter-war service
Furious was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet after commissioning in 1925, although she spent much of the next several years conducting trials for practically every aircraft in the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) inventory. These included landing and flying-off tests of Fairey IIID and Fairey Flycatcher floatplanes, with and without wheels, to compare various designs of wooden and metal floats. The lower flight deck was greased to allow them to take off with a minimum of difficulty. A Flycatcher fitted with wooden skids was also tested and behaved perfectly satisfactorily.[32][35] The arresting gear was barely used during these trials and it was removed shortly afterwards. Deck-edge palisades were installed in 1927 to keep aircraft from blowing over the side in rough weather.[22][36] The first carrier night-landing was made by a Blackburn Dart on 6 May 1926 aboard Furious.[37] In the 1920s, the ship commonly carried one flight of fighters (Fairey Flycatcher), two of spotters (Blackburn Blackburn or Avro Bison), one spotter reconnaissance (Fairey IIID) and two flights of torpedo bombers (Blackburn Dart), each usually of six aircraft.[24]
Furious was reduced to reserve on 1 July 1930 in preparation for a lengthy overhaul at Devonport. It lasted from September 1930 to February 1932 and was focused on refitting her machinery and re-tubing her boilers.[38] In addition her quarterdeck was raised by one deck, the AA armament was revised and spraying facilities were fitted in the hangars.[39] Upon completion, she ran a full-power trial on 16 February 1932 where her maximum speed was 28.8 knots (53.3 km/h; 33.1 mph) from a total of 89,745 shaft horsepower (66,923 kW).[40]
Furious recommissioned in May 1932 as part of the
From 1933 to the end of 1938, Furious carried 801 Squadron which initially flew a mixture of six
The ship was given a more extensive refit from January to May 1939 that removed her 5.5-inch guns and palisades, mounted anti-aircraft guns on her lower flying-off deck, plated in the doors at the forward end of the upper hangar, and gave her a small island on the starboard side. Furious resumed her training duties after the completion of the refit and continued them until October 1939.
Second World War
Furious remained on training duties, combined with anti-submarine sweeps off the east coast of
Norwegian campaign
Furious joined the Home Fleet off the coast of Norway on 10 April 1940 with only eighteen Swordfish from 816 and 818 Squadrons embarked;
Furious, ordered to remain behind after the bulk of the Home Fleet departed on 15 April, departed the Narvik area on 14 April, escorted by three destroyers, to refuel at
After quick repairs, which included the removal of several rows of turbine blades,[57] Furious returned to Norway on 18 May carrying the Gladiators of a reformed Royal Air Force 263 Squadron; they were flown off on 21 April once their base at Bardufoss was ready. One Gladiator and the guiding Swordfish crashed en route, killing all crewmen. The ship returned to Scapa Flow once all the Gladiators had been flown off,[58] carrying only six Sea Gladiators of 804 Squadron and nine Swordfish of 816 Squadron for self-protection while ferrying 263 Squadron.[59]
On 14 June, carrying only half of 816 Squadron for her own protection, Furious sailed unescorted for Halifax carrying £18,000,000 in gold bullion. On 1 July she escorted a convoy of Canadian troops bound for Iceland from Halifax and ferried over almost 50 aircraft with spare parts and munitions. On his own initiative, Captain Troubridge ordered all available space should be used to transport sugar to Britain.[60] Upon her arrival, she embarked the rest of 816 Squadron, as well as nine Skuas of 801 Squadron and nine Swordfish of 825, and made a number of largely unsuccessful air strikes on shipping in Norwegian waters and on the seaplane base at Tromsø in September and October 1940, at a cost of several aircraft.[61] Both Swordfish squadrons disembarked afterwards to make room as she prepared to resume her role as an aircraft transport.[62]
Ferry duties
Furious loaded 55 aircraft, mostly crated
Furious now had a new destination for her ferry trips and she transported 24 Hurricanes to Gibraltar on 25 April where they were transferred to Ark Royal to be flown off for Malta.[64] She sailed for a brief refit at Belfast immediately afterwards. While in Belfast she was hit by one small bomb and near-missed by two others during a German air raid in early May, but was only lightly damaged.[65] The ship loaded another batch of 40 Hurricane IIs, plus nine Fulmars from 'X' Flight of 800 Squadron in Liverpool, and arrived back in Gibraltar on 18 May. Some of these fighters were moved to Ark Royal via planks between the flight decks of the carriers berthed stern to stern. This time she accompanied Ark Royal and the two carriers flew off their fighters from a position south of Sardinia. Furious loaded 48 more Hurricane IIs and arrived back in Gibraltar on 1 June where some of the fighters were transferred to Ark Royal. The two carriers departed Gibraltar on 4 June and flew off 44 of the 48 fighters. Furious returned to the Clyde for her biggest load of aircraft yet, 64 Hurricanes, leaving room for only nine Swordfish from 816 Squadron on this voyage. Upon her arrival on 25 June she transferred 22 Hurricanes to Ark Royal and that carrier flew them off to Malta the next day. Of the 42 Hurricanes left on Furious, 26 were moved to Ark Royal when she returned on 28 June. This time, however, both carriers sailed to deliver the fighters to their usual take-off point west of Sicily. The tenth of Furious's aircraft to take off crashed into her island, killing 14 men and starting a serious fire on the flight deck. The blocked flight deck forced the remaining six Hurricanes to remain on board and they were returned to Gibraltar. Furious exchanged 816 Squadron for 818 from Ark Royal, then departed for home.[66]
In July, Furious embarked nine Fulmars of 800 Squadron, 'A' Flight of
On 30 August, Furious left Belfast with a load of 49 Hurricanes, carrying three Fulmars of 800 Squadron and four Sea Hurricane IBs of 880A Squadron for self-defence, and nine Swordfish of 812 Squadron for Ark Royal. She arrived in Gibraltar on 6 September and transferred 40 Hurricanes to the other carrier the next day. Ark Royal sailed for the departure point the following day, but could only fly off 14 Hurricanes because some of the Bristol Blenheim bombers used to guide the fighters to Malta failed to make their rendezvous. When Ark Royal returned, she transferred the six Swordfish of 810 Squadron to Furious and both carriers departed that same day to deliver the Hurricanes.[71] This was Furious's last ferry mission as she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a lengthy refit. She arrived on 7 October and did not return to the United Kingdom until April 1942.[65]
Furious spent the next three months after her return
As part of Operation Torch, Furious embarked 12
Home waters
Furious remained with Force H until February 1943 before transferring to the Home Fleet where she remained for the rest of the war. In July, the fleet demonstrated off the coast of Norway in strength to distract attention from the Allied invasion of Sicily; Furious's role was to allow a German reconnaissance aircraft to spot the British ships and make a report, then shoot it down.[76] She was refitted in August and spent the rest of the year training.[77] During the passage of Convoy JW 57 from the UK to Russia in February 1944, Furious, escorted by the British battleship Anson and the French battleship Richelieu, attacked German shipping off the Norwegian coast on 24 February 1944.[78] The carrier had the Seafire IBs of 801 Squadron aboard, plus the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers of 827 Squadron and 830 Squadrons. No aircraft were lost and a beached freighter was destroyed.[79]
In preparation for
The Home Fleet tried another attack on Tirpitz later on 23 April 1944, but bad weather prevented any attack from being made that day and for the next several days. Instead, the aircraft attempted to attack installations at Bodø on 26 April 1944, but found a German convoy instead and sank three ships. Furious and the escort carrier Searcher attacked shipping in the vicinity of Kristiansund and sank the ore carrier Almora and the tanker Saarburg for the loss of two aircraft on 6 May 1944. Another attack on Tirpitz by the Home Fleet had to be abandoned on 15 May 1944 because of poor weather. Yet another attempt on 28 May was foiled by bad weather, but a German convoy was successfully attacked on 1 June 1944. One ammunition ship was sunk and two others were set on fire.[81]
Furious and the fleet carriers
By this time, the ship's age and limitations became increasingly apparent and she was placed in reserve on 15 September 1944. The ship was
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ McBride, p. 102
- ^ a b c Jenkins, front endpaper
- ^ Burt 1986, p. 303
- ^ Roberts, pp. 50–51
- ^ a b Roberts, pp. 64–65
- ^ Roberts, pp. 71, 76, 79
- ^ a b c Burt 1986, p. 306
- ^ Parkes, p. 622
- ^ Burt 1986, p. 314
- ^ Parkes, p. 624
- ^ Buxton, p. 73
- ^ Jenkins, p. 251
- ^ Burt 1986, p. 307
- ^ Bruce, p. 204
- ^ Young, 30–32
- ^ Newbolt, pp. 150–151
- ^ Newbolt, pp. 156–157
- ^ Newbolt, p. 347
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 258–263
- ^ Burt 1993, p. 248
- ^ Brown, p. 252
- ^ a b c Friedman, p. 95
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 259, 262
- ^ a b c d Burt 1993, p. 269
- ^ Jenkins, p. 269
- ^ Friedman, p. 363
- ^ Brown, p. 2
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 258–259, 262–263
- ^ Chesneau, pp. 85–88
- ^ Friedman, pp. 94–95, 366
- ^ Burt 1993, p. 276
- ^ a b c Friedman, p. 109
- ^ Jenkins, pp. 276–77
- ^ a b c Jenkins, p. 277
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 266–269
- ^ Jenkins, p. 271
- ^ Jenkins, p. 274
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 265, 269
- ^ Jenkins, pp. 275–276
- ^ Burt 1993, p. 265
- ^ a b Jenkins, p. 276
- ^ Burt 1993, pp. 269–271
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, pp. 161, 164–165
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, pp. 203–204, 253–255
- ^ Jenkins, pp. 277–278
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, pp. 106, 108
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, p. 111
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, p. 228
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, p. 237
- ^ Jenkins, p. 279
- ^ a b Haarr, p. 139
- ^ Sturtivant 1990, p. 40
- ^ Rohwer, p. 19
- ^ a b c Haarr, p. 140
- ^ Haar, p. 195
- ^ Haar, pp. 140–141
- ^ Jenkins, p. 282
- ^ Haarr, p. 261
- ^ Brown, p. 16
- ^ Jenkins, p. 283
- ^ Brown, pp. 16–17
- ^ Brown, p. 17
- ^ Nailer, pp. 154–155
- ^ Nailer, p. 156
- ^ a b c Jenkins, p. 284
- ^ Nailer, pp. 156–157
- ^ Brown, pp. 19–20
- ^ Rohwer, p. 88
- ^ Brown, p. 20
- ^ Sturtivant 1984, p. 356
- ^ Nailer, p. 158
- ^ Nailer, pp. 163–165
- ^ Brown, pp. 62–63
- ^ Brown, p. 623
- ^ Sturtivant 1990, p. 93
- ^ Jenkins, pp. 284–285
- ^ a b Burt 1986, p. 272
- ^ Rohwer, p. 307
- ^ Brown, p. 24
- ^ Brown, pp. 25, 27
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 320, 322
- ^ Sturtivant 1990, p. 109
- ^ Brown, pp. 24, 28
- ^ Rohwer, p. 350
- ^ Brown, p. 28
- ^ Jenkins, p. 288
References
- ISBN 0-668-04164-1.
- Burt, R. A. (1993). British Battleships, 1919–1939. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-068-2.
- Burt, R. A. (1986). British Battleships of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-863-8.
- Buxton, Ian (2008). Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations 1914–1945 (2nd, revised and expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-045-0.
- Brown, J. D. (2009). Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-108-2.
- Bruce, J. M. (1976). "Sopwith's Pedigree Pup". Air Enthusiast Quarterly. 4. Bromley, UK: Pilot Press.
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1978). Battle Cruisers: The Design and Development of British and German Battlecruisers of the First World War Era. Warship Special. Vol. 1. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. OCLC 5991550.
- Chesneau, Roger (1998). Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present. An Illustrated Encyclopedia (Revised ed.). London: Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-875-9.
- ISBN 0-87021-054-8.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-051-1.
- Ireland, Bernard (2005). The Illustrated Guide to Aircraft Carriers of the World. London, UK: Hermes House. ISBN 978-1-84477-747-1.
- Jenkins, C. A. (1972). HMS Furious/Aircraft Carrier 1917–1948: Part II: 1925–1948. Warship Profile. Vol. 24. Windsor, UK: Profile Publications. OCLC 10154565.
- McBride, Keith (1990). "The Weird Sisters". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship. Vol. 1990. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 102–117. ISBN 1-55750-903-4.
- Nailer, Roger (1990). "Aircraft to Malta". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1990. London: Naval Institute Press. pp. 151–65. ISBN 1-55750-903-4.
- ISBN 0-89839-255-1.
- ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
- Roberts, John (1997). Battlecruisers. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-068-1.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 0-85368-938-5.
- Sturtivant, Ray (1984). The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-120-7.
- Young, Desmond (1963). Rutland of Jutland. London: Cassell.
External links
- Media related to HMS Furious (47) at Wikimedia Commons
- Royal Navy page on Furious
- FleetAirArmArchive.net on Furious
- US Navy photos of Furious
- Maritimequest HMS Furious photo gallery
- "Ships That Mother Seaplanes: Craft of the "Hush-hush" Fleet May Play a Part in First Trans-Atlantic Flight". Popular Science (February): 80. 1919.
- Data on her original design and technical specifications