Ark Royal

The Royal Navy's fleet flagship, the Ark Royal, docked in Copenhagen on Sunday after exercises nearby. This caused much excitement in Denmark and the news item was carried by the main TV station, DR (Dansk Radio as it was originally called) on its evening bulletin.

Its arrival prompted me to do a little research about the ship, probably the most well-known in the Royal Navy. This is what I discovered...

The first Ark Royal was built as Ark Raleigh at Deptford on the River Thames in 1587, to the order of Sir Walter Raleigh. She was bought by Queen Elizabeth's navy for £5,000 ("money well given", according to her new commander, Lord Howard of Effingham) and, as Ark Royal, was the flagship of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada during the campaign of 1588.

The second Ark Royal, after a gap of almost 300 years, was a merchant ship converted on the building stocks to be a seaplane carrier and was Britain's second aircraft carrier. (HMS Hermes was apparently converted to a seaplane carrier in 1913 and reconverted to a merchant in the same year.) HMS Ark Royal was arguably the first modern aircraft carrier. She was originally laid down as a merchant ship, but was converted on the building stocks to be a hybrid airplane/seaplane carrier. Built in Blyth, Northumberland, she was launched in 1914, and served in the Dardanelles Campaign and throughout World War I. She was renamed HMS Pegasus in 1934, to free the name Ark Royal for a new ship, and was broken up in 1950.

The third Ark Royal was launched in 1938, saw action in World War II, participating in the search to find and sink the Bismarck. She was sunk by the German U-boat U-81 in 1941. She was the first British purpose built aircraft carrier, and was built by Cammel Laird and Company, Ltd at Birkenhead, England.

The fourth Ark Royal was an Audacious-class (whatever that is!) fleet aircraft carrier. After starring in the 1970s BBC series "Sailor", she eventually went to the breaker's yard in 1980.

The fifth (and current) Ark Royal is an Invincible-class aircraft carrier. She served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and is due to stay in service until 2015. The aircraft on board include Harrier Jets, Westland Sea King and Merlin Helicopters.

I cycled along to Nordhavn (the north harbour) in Copenhagen to have a look and I have to say that it does look impressive when compared with the cruise ships and ferries moored nearby. But I did think it would be much bigger... I guess with Harriers, which can take off and land vertically, and helicopters, you don't need a long runway...!

Anyway, no doubt there will be an increase in profits at Carlsberg over the next few days as the crew enjoys its few days in town...