HMS Courageous (pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 50) was the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

 of the cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s built for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project

Baltic Project

The Baltic Project was a plan promoted by the Admiral Lord Fisher to procure a speedy victory in a war with Germany. It involved landing a substantial force, either British or Russian soldiers, on the flat beaches of Pomerania on the North German coast, under 100 miles from Berlin. To support this...

 championed by the First Sea Lord

First Sea Lord

The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...

, John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns. Courageous was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight

Second Battle of Heligoland Bight

The Second Battle of Heligoland Bight was a naval engagement during the First World War. On 17 November 1917, German minesweepers clearing a path through the British minefield in the Heligoland Bight near the coast of Germany were intercepted by two British light cruisers, and , performing...

 in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet

High Seas Fleet

The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...

 surrendered a year later.

Courageous was decommissioned after the war, but rebuilt as an aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 during the mid-1920s. She could carry 48 aircraft compared to the 36 carried by her half-sister

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

  on approximately the same tonnage. After recommissioning she spent most of her career operating off Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. She briefly became a training carrier, but reverted to her normal role a few months before the start of the Second World War in September 1939. Courageous was torpedoed and sunk in the opening weeks of the war, going down with more than 500 of her crew.

Origin and construction

During the First World War, Admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

 Fisher was prevented from ordering an improved version of the preceding s by a wartime restriction that banned construction of ships larger than light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

s. To obtain ships suitable for the doctrinal roles of battlecruisers, 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.

Courageous had an overall length of 786 in 9 in (239.8 m), a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 81 feet (24.7 m), and a draught of 25 in 10 in (7.87 m) at deep load. She displaced 19180 long tons (19,487.8 t) at load and 22560 long tons (22,922 t) at deep load. Courageous and her sisters were the first large warships in the Royal Navy to have geared steam turbine

Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....

s. To save design time, the installation used in the light cruiser , the first cruiser in the navy with geared turbines, was simply replicated for four turbine sets. The Parsons

Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company

Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...

 turbines were powered by eighteen Yarrow

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...

 small-tube boilers

Water-tube boiler

A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...

. They were designed to produce a total of 90000 shp at a working pressure of 235 pound per square inch. The ship reached an estimated 30.8 knots (16.8 m/s) during sea trial

Sea trial

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

s.

The ship was designed to normally carry 750 long tons (762 t) of fuel oil

Fuel oil

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...

, but could carry a maximum of 3160 long tons (3,211 t). At full capacity, she could steam for an estimated 6000 nautical mile at a speed of 20 knots (10.9 m/s).

Courageous carried four BL 15-inch Mk I guns in two twin hydraulically powered gun turret

Gun turret

A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...

s, designated 'A' and 'Y' from front to rear. Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen BL 4-inch Mk IX guns

BL 4 inch Mk IX naval gun

The BL 4-inch gun Mk IX was a British medium-velocity naval gun introduced in 1916 as secondary armament on the Renown class battlecruisers and Glorious class "large light cruisers", but which served most notably as the main armament on Flower class corvettes throughout World War II.-History:The...

 mounted in six manually powered mounts. The mount placed three breeches

Breech-loading weapon

A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....

 too close together, causing the 23 loaders to get in each other's way, and preventing the intended high rate of fire. A pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt

QF 3 inch 20 cwt

The QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships in World War I and submarines in World War II...

"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight

Hundredweight

The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...

, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. anti-aircraft

Anti-aircraft warfare

NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

 guns were fitted abreast the mainmast on Courageous. She mounted two submerged tubes

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

 for 21-inch torpedoes

British 21 inch torpedo

There have been several British 21-inch diameter torpedoes used by the Royal Navy since their first development just before the First World War.They were the largest size of torpedo in common use in the RN...

 and carried 10 torpedoes for them.

First World War

Laid down on 28 March 1915, Courageous was launched on 5 February 1916 and completed on 4 November. During her sea trial

Sea trial

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

s later that month, she sustained structural damage while running at full speed in a rough head sea; the exact cause is uncertain. The forecastle deck was deeply buckled in three places between the breakwater and the forward turret. In addition the side plating was visibly buckled between the forecastle and upper decks. Water had entered the submerged torpedo room and rivets had sheared in the angle irons securing the deck armour in place. The ship was stiffened with 130 long tons (132 t) of steel in response. As of 23 November 1916, she cost £2,038,225 to build.

Upon commissioning, Courageous was assigned to the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. She became flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of the 1st Cruiser Squadron

1st Cruiser Squadron

The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of armored cruisers that saw service as part of the Mediterranean and Grand Fleets during the First World War. It was originally formed in 1909, but was renamed on 1 January 1913 to First Battle Cruiser Squadron...

 near the end of 1916 when that unit was re-formed after most of its ships had been sunk at the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

 in May. The ship was temporarily fitted as a minelayer

Minelayer

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...

 in April 1917 by the addition of mine rails on her quarterdeck that could hold over 200 mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

s, but never actually laid any mines. In mid-1917, she received half a dozen torpedo mounts, each with two tubes: one mount on each side of the mainmast on the upper deck and two mounts on each side of the rear turret on the quarterdeck

Quarterdeck

The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...

. On 30 July 1917, Rear-Admiral Trevylyan Napier

Trevylyan Napier

Vice Admiral Sir Trevylyan Dacres Willes Napier KCB MVO was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.-Naval career:...

 assumed command of the 1st Cruiser Squadron and was appointed Acting Vice-Admiral Commanding the Light Cruiser Force until he was relieved on 26 October 1918.

On 16 October 1917, the Admiralty received word of German ship movements, possibly indicating some sort of raid. Admiral Beatty

David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty

Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...

, the commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships. Courageous and Glorious were not initially included amongst them, but were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 later that day. Two German light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

s managed to slip through the gaps between the British patrols and destroy a convoy bound for Norway during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st Cruiser Squadron was ordered to intercept, but was unsuccessful as the German cruisers were faster than expected.

Second Battle of Heligoland Bight

Throughout 1917 the Admiralty was becoming more concerned about German efforts to sweep paths through the British-laid minefields intended to restrict the actions of the High Seas Fleet and German submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s. A preliminary raid on German minesweeping forces on 31 October by light forces destroyed ten small ships. Based on intelligence reports, the Admiralty allocated the 1st Cruiser Squadron on 17 November 1917, with cover provided by the reinforced 1st Battlecruiser Squadron

1st Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)

The First Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. It was created in 1909 as the First Cruiser Squadron and was renamed in 1913 to First Battle Cruiser Squadron. It participated in the battles of...

 and distant cover by the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s of the 1st Battle Squadron, to destroy the minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

s and their light cruiser escorts.

The German ships—four light cruisers of II Scouting Force, eight destroyers, three divisions of minesweepers, eight sperrbrechers (cork-filled trawlers) and two other trawlers to mark the swept route—were spotted at 7:30 a.m.The times used in this article are in UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

, which is one hour behind CET

Central European Time

Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

, which is often used in German works. Courageous and the light cruiser opened fire with their forward guns seven minutes later. The Germans responded by laying an effective smoke screen. The British continued in pursuit, but lost track of most of the smaller ships in the smoke and concentrated fire on the light cruisers. Courageous fired 92 fifteen-inch shells and 180 four-inch shells during the battle, and the only damage she received was from her own muzzle blast. One fifteen-inch shell hit a gun shield of the light cruiser but did not affect her speed. At 9:30 the 1st Cruiser Squadron broke off their pursuit so they would not enter a minefield marked on their maps; the ships turned south, playing no further role in the battle.

After the battle, the mine fittings on Courageous were removed, and she spent the rest of the war intermittently patrolling the North Sea. In 1918, short take-off platforms were fitted for a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 and a Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Sopwith 1½ Strutter

The Sopwith 1½ Strutter was a British one or two-seat biplane multi-role aircraft of the First World War. It is significant as the first British-designed two seater tractor fighter, and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised machine gun...

 on both 15 inches (381 mm) turrets. The ship was present at the surrender of the German High Seas fleet on 21 November 1918. Courageous was placed in reserve at Rosyth

Rosyth

Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....

 on 1 February 1919 and she again became Napier's flagship as he was appointed Vice-Admiral Commanding the Rosyth Reserve until 1 May, The ship was assigned to the Gunnery School at Devonport

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 the following year as a turret drill ship. She became flagship of the Rear-Admiral Commanding the Reserve at Devonport in March 1920. Captain Sidney Meyrick

Sidney Meyrick

Admiral Sir Sidney Julius Meyrick KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.-Naval career:Meyrick joined the Royal Navy in 1893...

 became her Flag Captain

Flag captain

In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's...

 in 1920.

Conversion

The Washington Naval Treaty

Washington Naval Treaty

The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...

 of 1922 severely limited capital ship tonnage, and the Royal Navy was forced to scrap many of its older battleships and battlecruisers. However, the treaty allowed the conversion of existing ships totalling up to 66000 long tons (67,059 t) into aircraft carriers, and the Courageous class's combination of a large hull and high speed made these ships ideal candidates. The conversion of Courageous began on 29 June 1924 at Devonport. Her fifteen-inch turrets were placed into storage and reused during the Second World War for , the Royal Navy's last battleship. The conversion into an aircraft carrier cost £2,025,800.

The ship's new design improved on her half-sister HMS Furious, which lacked an island and a conventional funnel

Funnel

A funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, spillage would occur....

. All superstructure, guns, torpedo tubes, and fittings down to the main deck were removed. A two-storey hangar, each level 16 feet (4.9 m) high and 550 feet (167.6 m) long, was built on top of the remaining hull. The upper hangar level opened onto a short flying-off deck, below and forward of the main flight deck. Two 46 by 48 ft (14 by 14.6 m) lifts were installed fore and aft in the flight deck. An island with the bridge, flying control station and funnel was added on the starboard side, since islands had been found not to contribute significantly to turbulence. By 1939 the ship could carry 34500 imp gal (156,840.1 l; 41,432.8 US gal) of petrol for her aircraft.

Courageous received a dual-purpose

Dual purpose gun

A dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.-Description:Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...

 armament of sixteen QF 4.7-inch Mk VIII

QF 4.7 inch Mk VIII naval gun

The QF 4.7 inch Gun Mark VIII was a British naval anti-aircraft gun designed in the 1920s for the Royal Navy. It was mounted on the two , two of the three s and the Australian submarine tender HMAS Albatross .-External links:...

 guns in single HA Mark XII mounts. Each side of the lower flight deck had a mount, and two were on the quarterdeck. The remaining twelve mounts were distributed along the sides of the ship. During refits in the mid-1930s, Courageous received three quadruple Mk VII mounts for 40 millimetres (1.6 in) 2-pounder "pom-pom"

QF 2 pounder naval gun

The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...

 anti-aircraft guns, two of which were transferred from the battleship . Each side of the flying-off deck had a mount, forward of the 4.7-inch guns, and one was behind the island on the flight deck. She also received four water-cooled .50-calibre Mk III

Vickers .50 machine gun

The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was basically the same as the Vickers machine gun but scaled up to use a larger calibre round.-Mark II, IV and V:...

 anti-aircraft machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

s in a single quadruple mounting. This was placed in a sponson

Sponson

Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...

 on the port side aft.

The reconstruction was completed on 21 February 1928, and she spent the next several months on trials and training before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet

Mediterranean Fleet

Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...

 to be based at Malta, in which she served from May 1928 to June 1930. The ship was relieved by Glorious and refitted from June to August 1930. She was assigned to the Atlantic and Home Fleets from 12 August 1930 to December 1938, aside from a temporary attachment to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1936. In the early 1930s, traverse arresting gear was installed and she received two hydraulic aircraft catapult

Aircraft catapult

An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...

s on the upper flight deck before March 1934. Courageous was refitted again between October 1935 and June 1936 with her pom-pom mounts. She was present at the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

 on 20 May 1937 for King George VI. The ship became a training carrier in December 1938 when joined the Home Fleet. She was relieved of that duty by her half-sister Furious in May 1939. Courageous participated in the Portland

Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...

 Fleet Review on 9 August 1939.

Air group

Courageous could carry up to 48 aircraft; following completion of her trials and embarking stores and personnel, she sailed for Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

 on 14 May 1928. The following day, a Blackburn Dart

Blackburn Dart

-See also:-Bibliography:* Jackson, A.J. Blackburn Aircraft since 1909. London:Putnam, 1968. ISBN 0-370-00053-6.* Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber since 1914. London:Putnam, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5....

 of 463 Flight made the ship's first deck landing. The Dart was followed by the Fairey Flycatcher

Fairey Flycatcher

-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.* Taylor, H A. Fairey Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-00065-X....

s of 404 and 407 Flights, the Fairey IIIFs of 445 and 446 Flights and the Darts of 463 and 464 Flight. The ship sailed for Malta on 2 June to join the Mediterranean Fleet.

From 1933 to the end of 1938 Courageous carried No. 800 Squadron, which flew a mixture of nine Hawker Nimrod

Hawker Nimrod

The Hawker Nimrod was a British carrier-based single engine, single seat biplane fighter aircraft built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft.-Design and development:...

 and three Hawker Osprey fighters. 810

810 Naval Air Squadron

810 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the amalgamation of the 12 Blackburn Dart aircraft from 463 and 44 Flight Flights Royal Air Force to the Fleet Air Arm...

, 820

820 Naval Air Squadron

820 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed in April 1933 with the transferral of the Fairey III aircraft from 405 Flight Royal Air Force to the Fleet Air Arm...

 and 821 Squadrons

821 Naval Air Squadron

821 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the transferral and amalgamation of the Fairey III aircraft from 446 and half of 455 Flight Flights Royal Air Force to the newly formed Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force...

 were embarked for reconnaissance and anti-ship attack missions during the same period. They flew the Blackburn Baffin

Blackburn Baffin

-See also:-External links:* * http://avia.russian.ee/air/england/black_baffin.php...

, the Blackburn Shark

Blackburn Shark

-Bibliography:* Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.* Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Yasuho Izawa. Bloody Shambles:Volume One:The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London:Grub Street, 1992. ISBN 0-948817-50-X.*...

, the Blackburn Ripon

Blackburn Ripon

-See also:-External links:* in Flight...

 and the Fairey Swordfish

Fairey Swordfish

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...

 torpedo bomber

Torpedo bomber

A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...

s as well as Fairey Seal

Fairey Seal

|-Operators:*Argentine Navy* Latvian Navy* Peruvian Air Force* Peruvian Navy* Royal Air Force* Fleet Air Arm-See also:-References:*Sturtivant, R...

 reconnaissance aircraft. As a deck landing training carrier in early 1939 Courageous embarked the Blackburn Skua

Blackburn Skua

The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of a dive bomber and fighter. It was designed in the mid-1930s, and saw service in the early part of the Second World War...

 and Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters of 801 Squadron

801 Naval Air Squadron

801 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War.- Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force:...

 and the Swordfish torpedo bombers of 811 Squadron, although both of these squadrons were disembarked when the ship was relieved of her training duties in May.

Second World War and sinking

Courageous served with the Home Fleet at the start of World War II with 811 and 822 Squadrons aboard, each squadron equipped with a dozen Fairey Swordfish. In the early days of the war, hunter-killer groups

Hunter-killer Group

During World War II Battle of the Atlantic, the Allies realized that to combat the threat posed by the U-boats a more aggressive strategy was needed than simply providing convoys with escorts...

 were formed around the fleet's aircraft carriers to find and destroy U-boats. On 31 August 1939 she went to her war station at Portland and embarked the two squadrons of Swordfish. Courageous departed Plymouth on the evening of 3 September 1939 for an anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 patrol in the Western Approaches

Western Approaches

The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...

, escorted by four destroyers. On the evening of 17 September 1939, she was on one such patrol off the coast of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Two of her four escorting destroyers had been sent to help a merchant ship under attack and all her aircraft had returned from patrols. During this time, Courageous was stalked for over two hours by , commanded by Captain-Lieutenant Otto Schuhart

Otto Schuhart

Otto Schuhart was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...

. The carrier then turned into the wind to launch her aircraft. This put the ship right across the bow

Bow (ship)

The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...

 of the submarine, which fired three torpedoes. Two of the torpedoes struck the ship on her port side before any aircraft took off, knocking out all electrical power, and she capsized and sank in 20 minutes with the loss of 519 of her crew, including her captain. The survivors were rescued by the Dutch ocean liner

Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

 Veendam and the British freighter Collingworth. Although the two escorting destroyers counterattacked U-29 for four hours, the submarine escaped.

An earlier unsuccessful attack on Ark Royal by on 14 September, and the sinking of Courageous three days later, prompted the Royal Navy to withdraw its carriers from anti-submarine patrols. Courageous was the first British warship to be lost in the war; the civilian passenger liner had been sunk two weeks earlier. The commander of the German submarine force, Commodore Karl Dönitz

Karl Dönitz

Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...

, regarded the sinking of Courageous as "a wonderful success" and it led to widespread jubilation in the Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 (German Navy). Grand Admiral Erich Raeder

Erich Raeder

Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of Großadmiral — in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz...

, commander of the Kriegsmarine, directed that Schuhart be awarded the Iron Cross First Class

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

and that all other members of the crew receive the Iron Cross Second Class.

External links

• Photo gallery of Courageous and Glorious