HMS Courageous ( 50 ) HMS " Courageous " was the lead ship of the cruiser s built for the Royal Navy during the First World War . Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord , 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 . She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later . " Courageous " was decommissioned after the war , but rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the mid - 1920s . She could carry 48 aircraft compared to the 36 carried by her half - sister on approximately the same tonnage . After recommissioning she spent most of her career operating off Great Britain and Ireland . 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 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 s in 1915 . 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 , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load . She displaced at load and at deep load . " Courageous " and her sisters were the first large warships in the Royal Navy to have geared steam turbines . 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 turbines were powered by eighteen Yarrow small - tube boilers . They were designed to produce a total of at a working pressure of . The ship reached an estimated during sea trials . The ship was designed to normally carry of fuel oil , but could carry a maximum of . At full capacity , she could steam for an estimated at a speed of . " Courageous " carried four BL 15 - inch Mk I guns in two twin hydraulically powered gun turret s , designated ' A ' and ' Y ' from front to rear . Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen BL 4 - inch Mk IX guns mounted in six manually powered mounts . The mount placed three breeches 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 anti - aircraft guns were fitted abreast the mainmast on " Courageous " . She mounted two submerged tubes for 21 - inch torpedoes and carried 10 torpedoes for them . First World War . Laid down on 26 March 1915 , " Courageous " was launched on 5 February 1916 and completed on 4 November . During her sea trials 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 iron s securing the deck armour in place . The ship was stiffened with 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 of the 1st 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 in May . The ship was temporarily fitted as a minelayer in April 1917 by the addition of mine rails on her quarterdeck that could hold over 200 mine 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 . On 30 July 1917 , Rear - Admiral Trevylyan Napier 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 , the commander of the Grand Fleet , ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyer 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 later that day . Two German light cruiser 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 minefield s intended to restrict the actions of the High Seas Fleet and German submarine 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 and distant cover by the battleship s of the 1st Battle Squadron , to destroy the minesweeper s and their light cruiser escorts . The German ships — four light cruisers of II Scouting Force , eight destroyers , three divisions of minesweepers , eight " sperrbrecher " s ( cork - filled trawlers ) and two other trawlers to mark the swept route — were spotted at 7 : 30 am " 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 and a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on both 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 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 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 became her Flag Captain in 1920 . Between the wars . Conversion . The Washington Naval Treaty 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 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 . All superstructure , guns , torpedo tubes , and fittings down to the main deck were removed . A two - storey hangar , each level high and 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 . The flying - off deck improved launch and recovery cycle flexibility until new fighters requiring longer takeoff rolls made the lower deck obsolete in the 1930s . Two 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 of petrol for her aircraft . " Courageous " received a dual - purpose armament of sixteen QF 4 . 7 - inch Mk VIII 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 2 - pounder " pom - pom " anti - aircraft gun s , 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 anti - aircraft machine gun s in a single quadruple mounting . This was placed in a sponson 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 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 Fleet s 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 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 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 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 on 14 May 1928 . The following day , a Blackburn Dart of 463 Flight made the ship ' s first deck landing . The Dart was followed by the Fairey Flycatcher s of 404 and 407 Flights , the Fairey IIIF s 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 and three Hawker Osprey fighters . 810 , 820 and 821 Squadrons were embarked for reconnaissance and anti - ship attack missions during the same period . They flew the Blackburn Baffin , the Blackburn Shark , the Blackburn Ripon and the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber s as well as Fairey Seal reconnaissance aircraft . As a deck landing training carrier in early 1939 " Courageous " embarked the Blackburn Skua and Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters of 801 Squadron 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 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 patrol in the Western Approaches , escorted by four destroyers . On the evening of 17 September 1939 , she was on one such patrol off the coast of Ireland . 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 . The carrier then turned into the wind to launch her aircraft . This put the ship right across 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 " 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 sunk by the Germans ; the submarine had been sunk a week earlier by the British submarine . The commander of the German submarine force , Commodore Karl Dönitz , regarded the sinking of " Courageous " as " a wonderful success " and it led to widespread jubilation in the Kriegsmarine ( German Navy ) . Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , commander of the Kriegsmarine , directed that Schuhart be awarded the Iron Cross First Class and that all other members of the crew receive the Iron Cross Second Class .