Warship Wednesday April 25
Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steampunk navies of the 1866-1938 time period and will profile a different ship each week.
– Christopher Eger
Warship Wednesday, April 25
Here we have the HMS Furious on flight operations in 1919.
Three Sopwith Camels are lined up on the deck of the HMS Furious. The hatch in the foreground leads to a hanger deck that held eight planes.
Using a wheeled trolley to launch these little canvas birds, …..
……they were caught by hand upon landing by officers who ran after the airplanes to keep them going over the sides.
Originally designed as a Courageous class Battle-cruiser carrying 18-inch guns, she was commissioned 26 June 1917 at the height of World War One. She was converted to one of the Royal Navy’s first aircraft carriers. During World War Two, Furious was a key player in the Norwegian campaign and took Spitfires to Malta. She later helped with the attacks on the battleship Tirpitz.
In her career she carried in turns, Fairey Flycatchers, Blackburn Blackburns, Avro Bisons, Blackburn Darts, Hawker Nimrods, Hawker Ospreys, Blackburn Ripons, Blackburn Baffin, Hawker Hurricanes, Fairey Swordfish, Fairey IIIF, Fairey Seal, Blackburn Shark, Supermarine Spitfires, Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, Blackburn Skua, Blackburn Roc, Fairey Barracuda, Grumman Hellcats and Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters.
HMS Furious (That’s a lot of wood)
Specifications:
Class and type: Courageous-class aircraft carrier
Displacement: 22,500 long tons (22,900 t)
26,500 long tons (26,900 t) (deep load)
Length: 735 ft 2.25 in (224.1 m) (p/p)
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: 90,000 shp (67,000 kW)
Propulsion: 4 shafts, 4 Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines
18 Yarrow boilers
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 4,300 nmi (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement: 738 + 468 air group (1932)
Armament:
10 × 1 – BL 5.5-inch Mk I guns
6 × 1 – QF 4-inch Mark V AA guns
Armour: Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
Decks: .75–1 in (19–25 mm)
Bulkhead: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
Torpedo bulkheads: 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm)
Aircraft carried: 36 (usually less)
She was one of the oldest aircraft carriers in the world in 1945, at over 30 years old. While most ships of her type were brand new and carried 3-4 times her airwing, Furious was obsolete. The ship was paid off in April 1945 and used to evaluate the effects of aircraft explosives on the ship’s structure. Furious was sold in 1948 for scrap, and had been completely broken up at Troon by 1954.