Watters, Stephen J. Aircraft Carrier Furious

From Tondern to Tirpitz 1915–1954

The aircraft carrier HMS Furious was perhaps the most important ship in the development of naval aviation. It was effectively the testing ground for carrier-based aviation, which emerged during the First World War and achieved naval supremacy in the Second World War. During its highly experimental deployment, it underwent several modifications. The story of its design, its missions and its crucial role in the advancement of carrier aviation is told in detail in this book. The Furious was originally designed as a large light cruiser or battlecruiser, one of the Fisher children, with two 18-inch guns, minimal armour and a planned top speed of 32 knots. However, even before its completion, it was converted and given a large hangar and a flight deck in the bow, replacing one of its guns. In this configuration, it performed the first landing of an aircraft on a moving aircraft carrier, carried out by Squadron Leader Dunning. Further modifications led to the addition of a 300-foot landing deck aft, and in this form she launched the first carrier attack on the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in Denmark in 1915. After further redesign and refitting, she became a flat-deck carrier in 1925, and in this form, with further development in 1938-39, she served until September 1944. The author emphasises that it was not only an extremely important experimental platform for the Fleet Air Arm between the wars, but also served with distinction during the Second World War, first in the Norway campaign and later, for example, in the attack on the Tirpitz in 1944. The following year, it was decommissioned, but its legacy lived on in the large fleet aircraft carriers that emerged after the war. The story of this remarkable ship is told here in a concise and easy-to-read text, aided by an excellent collection of ship plans and photographs, and is sure to become an invaluable reference work for naval enthusiasts, students of early naval aviation and ship model builders alike.