After the war, "Ark Royal" transported aircraft across the Black Sea to Batumi, where they were ferried across the Caucasus to the British naval forces supporting White Russian forces fighting the Bolsheviks in the Caspian Sea during the Russian Civil War. The ship was withdrawn from the Black Sea in late 1919 and disembarked her seaplanes at Malta to load a dozen Airco DH.9 bombers and 181 personnel of the supporting Z Force for transport to British Somaliland. The ship arrived in Berbera on 30 December and the squadron was unloaded to support the air and land campaign against Diiriye Guure. "Ark Royal" served during this campaign solely as a depot and repair ship for the RAF. She was withdrawn before its conclusion and transferred to the Black Sea to support the White Russian forces there as they began to collapse. The ship twice ferried refugees from the Caucasian coast to the Crimea and, after the second voyage, had to be fumigated at Constantinople after an outbreak of typhus among her passengers. During the summer of 1920, "Ark Royal" ferried RAF aircraft and personnel to Basra. She then returned to Britain for a refit and was put into reserve at Rosyth in November.