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Chapter Two THE ARK ROYAL

The third Naval vessel to be called the Ark Royal, she was the first 'flat top' aircraft carrier to be built for the Royal Navy, at 22,000 tons this was one of the ships most feared by the German High Command.
Even as early as September 1939 the German newspapers were reporting that the Ark had been sunk.
We had been involved in numerous actions, both inside and outside the Mediterranean, and her many adventures have been covered in the book by Kenneth Bookman called 'Ark Royal' and in view of the large number of contacts we had made with the enemy and the number of times we had,so to speak 'got away with it' we began to think that we were invincible and that it could never happen to us.
But it did.
In 1941 the Ark Royal was a member of 'Force H' stationed at Gibraltar under Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville who flew his flag at that time aboard HMS Renoun.
'Force H' was on what was called a 'Club Run' this operation consisted of loading Fighter Aircraft, such as the 'Hurricane' which had been shipped over from the UK in bits and assembled aboard HMS Argus.
The aircraft were pushed over on a very large ramp spanning the two ships until our flight deck was loaded, with just enough room left for the aircraft to take off.When they had all been assemled and transferred to all the Carriers we made ready for sea and the whole 'Force H'would start to move out into the Bay.
Any ships movements from Gibraltar Harbour were immediately noted by Grman Agents in Algeciras just across the Bay in Spain, and that information was transmitted to Madrid and then on to Berlin. The result being that as soon as 'Force H' moved into the the Mediterranean, within 48hrs steaming easterly we could expect a rather warm visit from the enemy.
Slim Somerville, as he was affectionately known by all who served under him, had several different methods of distracting the attention of those responsible for transmitting our movements. One such ruse was for the fleet to storm out of the Bay and head in a westerly direction out into the Atlantic.This course was noted by the Germans and passed on accordingly, but as soon as darkness fell the Fleet would reverse its course and steam at full spead back into the Med, passing Gibraltar with all ships blacked out. This gave us several hours respite before it became known just what our movements were and what our likely destination would be.
This could not be carried out too often as it was unlikely that we could ' pull the wool over their eyes all the time''
It was not usually expected that any action would take place within the first twentyfour hours of leaving Gibraltar, although all ships would be at a reduced state of action stations. Those not actually on watch would be carrying on normal duties required to keep the ship running, such as routine maintainence, preparing meals, servicing the aircraft and if necessary even a spot of painting.
But as soon as the general alarm was given it was one mad dash to action stations.
In spite of the size of the Ark it was surprising how quickly this could be accomplished, more so when one considers that in the event of an air attack it was only a few minutes warning before the aircraft were over us.
About the second day out we could expect to see our old friend the 'Snooper', this was one of the enemy reconnaissance aircraft, who when sighting the fleet would stay with us as long as possible, just out of the range of our guns, from where they would be able to transmit our size and position back to their base.
It was possible at times to put our own aircraft in the air and chase them away,and on one occasion to shoot one down,but usually by then our position and course had been passed on, and soon after we could expect a visit from the enemy fighters and bombers.
The Hurricane fighters would be fully armed and fitted with extra long range fuel tanks which could be jettisoned if required. As we got close enough to Malta they would take off and join escorting aircraft which had been sent out from Gibralta to navigate the remaining journey to their new base on the Island.
When the last of our 'Cargo' had flown, we would return to Gibraltar to pick up another load.
Ark Royal also carried her own aircraft squadrons which were often in action over the Med, and targets on the North African and Italian mainlands,the Swordfishwas a slow bi-plane ( affectionately known as 'Sting Bags') but they were excellent torpedo and bomber aircraft and were also used for reconnaissance, especially for spotting submarines.
There were also at that time a squadron of Fairy Fulmars which had replaced the earlier Skuas, they carried eight guns and were an excellent fighter, it was these aircraft which took the brunt of the enemy attacks and many were lost protecting the convoys.
After leaving the danger zone, our return journey to Gibralta was usually quiet, with only various sections of the crew on duty untill relieved by the next watch. This was the state of affairs on the 13th September 1941 when we were almost in sight of the Rock.
The watch had just changed at 1600hrs, those coming off watch were just about to settle down to a cup of tea. The Ark was preparing to receive aircraft returning from anti-submarine patrol and had just launched three or four aircraft to replace them when there was a terrific explosion which virtually lifted the ship out of the water.
It happened so quickly, and it took a few seconds to think clearly and to realize that we had been hit by a torpedo.
Action Stations were soundedand everyone moved quickly to their positions. Damage Control parties closed and clipped all watertight doors and hatches but the Ark was listing fast and we were given the order to abandon ship.
I was one of the 1,540 officers and men who scambled down the ropes rigged off the stern deck, few of us had time to take any personal belongings with us and we left the Ark with only the clothes we had on.

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