HMS Ark Royal ( 91 ) HMS " Ark Royal " ( pennant number 91 ) was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War . Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty , " Ark Royal " was built by Cammell Laird and Company , Ltd . at Birkenhead , England , and completed in November 1938 . Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers . " Ark Royal " was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull , instead of an add - on or part of the superstructure . Designed to carry a large number of aircraft , she had two hangar deck levels . She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power ; a number of carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard " Ark Royal " . " Ark Royal " served in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War . She was involved in the first aerial and U - boat kills of the war , operations off Norway , the search for the German battleship , and the Malta Convoys . " Ark Royal " survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a ' lucky ship ' . The Germans incorrectly reported her as sunk on multiple occasions . She was torpedoed on 13 November 1941 by the German submarine and sank the following day . Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries ; investigators were keen to know how the carrier was lost , in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar . They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss , which were rectified in new British carriers . Her wreck was discovered by a BBC crew in December 2002 , approximately from Gibraltar . Design . In 1923 , the Admiralty prepared a 10 - year building programme which included an aircraft carrier and 300 aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm . The economic downturn following the First World War caused it to be postponed . In 1930 , the Director of Naval Construction , Sir Arthur Johns , began to update the plans for the carrier by incorporating recently developed technology . His aim was to increase the number of aircraft carried by shortening the landing and take - off distances of aircraft by using arrestor gear and compressed steam catapults respectively , which would make more deck space available for storage and aircraft preparation . Along with the inclusion of two hangar decks , this allowed " Ark Royal " to carry up to 72 aircraft , although the development of larger and heavier aircraft during the carrier ' s construction meant that the actual number carried was between 50 and 60 . The hangar decks were placed inside the hull , thus benefiting from the protection of the belt armour . Three lifts moved aircraft between the hangars and the flight deck . Another feature was the length and height of the flight deck . At , the flight deck was longer than the keel ; the latter dictated by the length of Royal Navy dry - docks in Gibraltar and Malta . Because hangar decks were within the hull , the flight deck rose to above the waterline . The Washington and London Naval Treaties — which restricted warship tonnage for a number of the Great Powers — were to expire at the end of 1936 . With a potential naval arms race developing between Britain , Japan and Italy , the British government sought a second treaty , which included limiting the maximum displacement of an aircraft carrier to . " Ark Royal " would have to fit this anticipated limit ; to conserve weight , armour plating was limited to the belt , engine rooms , and magazines , while welding instead of riveting 65 % of the hull saved . Installation of an armoured flight deck was not possible , as the weight would have placed " Ark Royal " above the proposed limit , while reducing her endurance and stability . The ship was designed with a three layer side protection system based upon a void - liquid - void scheme very similar to that used on the " King George V " - class battleships , and was designed to protect against torpedoes with up to a warhead . The ship was fitted with six boilers , which powered three Parsons geared turbines . The turbines were connected via three driveshafts to three bronze propellers in diameter , to produce a maximum theoretical speed of . Speed was important , as with catapults and arrestor gear , " Ark Royal " would have to turn into the wind to launch and recover aircraft . To avoid endangering other ships with the frequent course changes associated with flight operations , " Ark Royal " would have to break away from accompanying ships , and catch up on completion . Additionally , as the carrier was not armed for ship - to - ship combat , speed was her main protection against enemy warships . Construction . The deteriorating international situation by 1933 , typified by Germany ' s rearmament and the expansion of Japan and Italy , convinced the British to announce funds for the carrier ' s construction in the 1934 budget proposals . The plans finalised by November 1934 , and were tendered in February 1935 to Cammell Laird and Company , Ltd . , which calculated the cost of the hull at £ 1 , 496 , 250 ( £ as of 2018 ) , and the main machinery at approximately £500 , 000 . ( £ as of 2018 ) , The overall cost was estimated to be over £3 million , making " Ark Royal " the most expensive ship ordered by the Royal Navy . Construction began on Job No . 1012 when " Ark Royal " s keel was laid down on 16 September 1935 . " Ark Royal " spent nearly two years in the builder ' s yard before being launched on 13 April 1937 by Lady Maud Hoare , wife of Sir Samuel Hoare , then First Lord of the Admiralty . The bottle of champagne thrown against " Ark Royal " s bows did not smash until the fourth attempt . The carrier spent a year fitting out , was handed over to her first commander , Captain Arthur Power , on 16 November 1938 , and was commissioned on 16 December . Although intended for the Far East , events in Europe during the carrier ' s construction , including the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936 , caused the Admiralty to mark her for deployment with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets . After her crew joined at the end of 1938 , " Ark Royal " underwent sea trials to prepare for service , during which the carrier proved capable of sailing above her theoretical speed , reaching over and in trials during May 1938 " Ark Royal " achieved with at a deep displacement of . Armament and aircraft . " Ark Royal " s armament was designed with anti - aircraft warfare in mind , as aircraft were expected to be the main threat ; ships and submarines could be outrun or dealt with by escorts . Her main armament was sixteen quick - firing dual purpose gun s in eight double turrets , four on each side of the hull , controlled by four Director s using the High Angle Control System . The original design placed the turrets low on the hull , but was later altered to locate them just below the flight deck , which increased each turret ' s field of fire . Six 8 - barrelled 2 - pounder ( ) " pom - pom " gun s were located on the flight deck , in front of and behind the superstructure island , while eight 4 - barrelled machine gun s were installed on small projecting platforms to the front and rear of the flight deck . Sixteen Fleet Air Arm squadrons were posted aboard " Ark Royal " during her career ; an average of five squadrons at any time . On entering service , most of " Ark Royal " s squadrons were equipped with either Blackburn Skua s — used as fighters and dive bombers — or Fairey Swordfish , for reconnaissance and torpedo bombing . From April 1940 , squadrons equipped with Skuas were upgraded to Fairey Fulmar s ; like their predecessors , these were used as fighters and bombers . On occasion , the carrier operated Blackburn Roc fighter - bombers ( from April 1939 – October 1940 ) and Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers ( during October 1941 ) ; these were replacement aircraft used to boost squadron numbers . In June 1940 , " Ark Royal " was host to 701 Naval Air Squadron , a training squadron which operated Supermarine Walrus reconnaissance amphibians . Service history . With the hunter - killer groups . The outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 had been presaged by Germany ' s U - boat fleet taking up positions off the British coast , where they could intercept British shipping . Within hours of the war starting , the passenger ship was torpedoed by , the first of over of shipping sunk by U - boats during the first week of the war . " Ark Royal " was deployed with the Home Fleet in the North Western Approaches as part of a " hunter - killer " group , consisting of a flotilla of destroyers and other anti - submarine vessels grouped around an aircraft carrier ; either , or " Ark Royal " . Carrier - borne aircraft could increase the area searched for U - boats , but made the carriers tempting targets . On 14 September , " Ark Royal " received a distress call from , which was away under pursuit from the surfaced " U - 30 " . " Ark Royal " launched aircraft to aid the merchant ship , but was spotted by , which launched two torpedoes . Lookouts spotted the torpedo tracks and " Ark Royal " turned towards the attack , reducing her cross - section and causing the torpedoes to miss and explode harmlessly astern . Three F - class destroyer s escorting the carrier began to depth charge " U - 39 " , and forced her to the surface . The German crew abandoned ship before " U - 39 " sank — the first U - boat lost during the war . " Ark Royal " s aircraft reached " Fanad Head " , which was in the hands of a German boarding party . The Skuas unsuccessfully attacked " U - 30 " : two crashed when caught by the blast of their own bombs . The U - boat escaped after rescuing the boarding party and the pilots of the downed aircraft ( both observers had drowned ) , and torpedoing the " Fanad Head " . " Ark Royal " returned to base in Loch Ewe , where she and her crew were inspected by Winston Churchill . The sinking of " U - 39 " was hailed as important to morale . However , the failed attack on " Ark Royal " , and the successful attack on " Courageous " on 17 September , convinced the Admiralty it was too dangerous to risk aircraft carriers in this way , and carrier - centred hunter - killer groups were abandoned . Another near miss . On 25 September , " Ark Royal " helped rescue the submarine , which had been damaged by German warships off Horn Reefs , in the Kattegat . While returning to port with " Spearfish " and the battleships and on 26 September , the ships were located by three " Luftwaffe " Dornier Do 18 seaplane s . " Ark Royal " launched three Blackburn Skua s to disperse them ; one Dornier was shot down in the first British aerial kill of the war . The air commander aboard " Ark Royal " — aware that the surviving Dorniers would report the location of the British ships — ordered the aircraft to be secured and the anti - aircraft weapons readied . Four Junkers Ju 88 bomber s of the " Luftwaffe " bomber wing KG 30 soon appeared : three were driven away by anti - aircraft fire , but the fourth launched a bomb at the carrier . " Ark Royal " turned hard to starboard , heeling over and avoiding the bomb , which landed in the ocean off her starboard bow and sent a spout of water over the ship . The German pilots did not see if the carrier had been hit , and a reconnaissance flight later located the two battleships , but not " Ark Royal " . Based on this information , the Germans incorrectly claimed that " Ark Royal " had sunk . To prove the German propaganda false before it had a negative effect on Britain ' s allies , Winston Churchill personally reassured United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the carrier was undamaged and invited the U . S . naval attaché to view " Ark Royal " in dock . The British naval attaché in Rome was instructed to assure Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini that the ship was still in service . This proved to be a considerable embarrassment for Goebbels and Nazi propaganda . Hunting the " Graf Spee " . In October 1939 , " Ark Royal " was redeployed to Freetown to operate off the African coast in the hunt for the German commerce raider . The carrier was assigned to Force K , and sailed with the battlecruiser to the South Atlantic . On 9 October , aircraft from " Ark Royal " spotted the German tanker " Altmark " , which supplied " Graf Spee " . The tanker was disguised as the U . S . vessel " Delmar " , which fooled the British into passing her by . On 5 November , " Ark Royal " captured the German merchant , which was attempting to reach Germany . The ship was later taken into British service as a cargo ship and renamed " Empire Ability " . Several neutral merchant ships were also spotted by the carrier ' s aircraft , twice causing crews to believe they were under attack and abandon ship . A note explaining the situation was dropped in a bag to a Norwegian vessel ' s crew , and they re - boarded ; an attempt to repeat this exercise with a Belgian crew failed when the bag was dropped down the ship ' s funnel . By this time , " Graf Spee " had put into Montevideo to repair damage received during the battle of the River Plate . Two Royal Navy cruisers followed the raider , and patrolled the harbour entrance while reporting " Graf Spee " s position to the fleet . " Ark Royal " and " Renown " were dispatched to join the British ships outside the harbour , but as they were 36 hours away , the British naval attaché came up with a plan to make the Germans believe that the two capital ships had already arrived . An order for fuel for " Ark Royal " was placed at Buenos Aires , west of Montevideo . This was leaked to the press , passed on to the German embassy in Montevideo , and given to " Graf Spee " s captain , Hans Langsdorff . This contributed to Langsdorff ' s decision to scuttle his ship . Return to the fleet . With " Graf Spee " sunk , " Ark Royal " remained in the Atlantic for a short time before escorting the damaged heavy cruiser back to Devonport Dockyard , where they arrived in February . Following this , " Ark Royal " proceeded to Portsmouth to take on supplies and personnel , before sailing to Scapa Flow . On arrival , she transferred her Blackburn Skuas to Naval Air Station " Hatston " to strengthen the anchorage ' s defences . " Ark Royal " was then assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet for exercises , departing Scapa Flow on 31 March 1940 and heading for Alexandria with the aircraft carrier . The carriers arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on 8 April , but the exercises were cancelled a day later . The ships sailed to Gibraltar to await orders . German forces had invaded Norway as part of Operation " Weserübung " on 9 April , and had secured sections of the coast . Attempts by the Royal Navy to operate in support of British troops were unsuccessful ; air attacks had overwhelmed the ships , sinking and nearly sinking . Realising that the British ships required air cover , but aware that the Norwegian coast was outside the range of British land - based aircraft , the Admiralty recalled " Ark Royal " and " Glorious " from the Mediterranean on 16 April . Norwegian campaign . " Ark Royal " and " Glorious " arrived at Scapa Flow on 23 April 1940 and were immediately redeployed as part of Operation DX . Sailing to Norway with the cruisers and and screened by the destroyers , , , , and , this was the first time the Royal Navy had deployed carriers with the primary purpose of providing fighter protection for other warships . The ships took up position on 25 April off the coast ; " Ark Royal " positioned offshore to reduce the chance of air attacks . The carrier ' s aircraft conducted anti - submarine patrols , provided fighter support for other ships , and carried out strikes against shipping and shore targets . " Ark Royal " returned to Scapa Flow on 27 April to refuel and replace lost and damaged aircraft , before heading back on the same day with the battleship as escort . During the return , " Ark Royal " came under air attack from German Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 bombers operating from Norway . The carrier was undamaged , and resumed position on 29 April . By this point , the British high command had realised that they could not hold the Germans in southern Norway . The evacuation of Allied troops from Molde and Åndalsnes began , with " Ark Royal " providing air cover from 30 April . On 1 May , the Germans tried to sink the carrier , with numerous air attacks through the day . " Ark Royal " s fighters and a heavy anti - aircraft barrage drove off the enemy , and although several bombs were dropped at the carrier , none impacted . The evacuation was completed on 3 May , and the carrier was recalled to Scapa Flow to refuel and rearm before returning to Norway . While in port , Captain Arthur Power left the ship for a promotion to the Admiralty , and was replaced by Captain Cedric Holland . On return to Norway , " Ark Royal " was told to provide air cover for operations around Narvik , including the landing of French troops on 13 May . She was joined on 18 May by the carriers " Glorious " and " Furious " . Despite these efforts , it was clear by the end of May that French forces were on the verge of collapse and Norway was a sideshow compared to the German advance to the English Channel . Operation Alphabet was instigated to move Allied troops from Narvik to Britain . " Ark Royal " and " Glorious " — screened by the destroyers , , , , and — sailed from Scapa Flow on 1 June to cover the evacuation , which commenced the next day . " Ark Royal " carried out air patrols and bombing raids from 3 – 6 June , before redeploying to Narvik on 7 June . Disaster struck the next day , when " Glorious " , escorted by " Acasta " and " Ardent " , were detached to return to Britain . The three ships were attacked and sunk by the German battlecruisers and . A search by " Ark Royal " s aircraft failed to locate the German ships , which had returned to Trondheim . The last evacuation convoy left Narvik on 9 June . Before the British ships could withdraw , a raid on Trondheim located " Scharnhorst " . An attack by " Ark Royal " s Skuas took place at midnight on 13 June . The attack was a disaster : the escort destroyers and collided while " Ark Royal " was launching aircraft in fog and returned to England for repairs , eight of the fifteen attacking Skuas were shot down , while " Scharnhorst " escaped damage . " Ark Royal " returned to Scapa Flow the following day , and was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet . Mediterranean deployment . " Ark Royal " left Scapa Flow with the battlecruiser and three destroyers , arriving at Gibraltar on 23 June 1940 . Here she joined Force H , under Sir James Somerville . After the capitulation of France there was concern that a French fleet at Mers - el - Kébir might fall under Axis control and tip the balance of power in the Mediterranean , affecting the whole war . " Ark Royal " s captain , Cedric Holland , had been the British naval attaché in Paris , and was sent to negotiate the surrender or scuttling of the French fleet . Force H was deployed outside the harbour , and when the French admirals refused to agree to the offered terms , opened fire on the French ships . During the attack on Mers - el - Kébir , " Ark Royal " s aircraft provided targeting information for the British ships . The French battleship escaped , despite attacks by Swordfish from " Ark Royal " . Two days after the attack , aircraft from " Ark Royal " incapacitated the French battleship , which had been beached in the initial attack . Having reduced the possibility of a French challenge in the Mediterranean , Force H prepared for attacks on Italian targets , and sailed from Gibraltar on 8 July . The force was attacked by Italian bombers within eight hours of departing , and although Force H escaped damage , Somerville cancelled the raids and ordered the fleet to Gibraltar . During July , the British colony of Malta came under attack from the Italian air force , with Force H ordered to deliver Hawker Hurricane s to reinforce the island ' s air defences . Force H was deployed from 31 July - 4 August , with the carrier used to deliver the aircraft , while " Ark Royal " provided air cover for the fleet . On 2 August , " Ark Royal " launched a successful air attack against the Italian air base at Cagliari . Force H remained at Gibraltar until 30 September , when it escorted reinforcements for Admiral Andrew Cunningham ' s fleet to Alexandria . En route , diversionary attacks were planned on Italian air bases at Elmas and Cagliari to direct attention from both the reinforcement operation and a supply convoy sailing to Malta . The attacks were successfully carried out on 1 October , and the fleet reached Alexandria without significant attention from the Italian air force . From Alexandria , " Ark Royal " was detached and sent to West Africa to support British attempts to encourage Vichy French colonies to switch alleigance to the Free French . During negotiations , several Free French aircraft flew from " Ark Royal " , but their aircrews were arrested at Dakar . Negotiations failed , and bombers from " Ark Royal " were directed against military installations during the unsuccessful British attempt to take Dakar by force . Following this , " Ark Royal " returned to Britain for refit , docking in Liverpool on 8 October after being escorted by , and . The refit — which lasted until 3 November — included repairs to her machinery and the installation of a new flight deck barrier . Following refit , " Ark Royal " — accompanied by , , and — sailed for Gibraltar , arriving on 6 November . They were deployed with the rest of Force H to escort convoys from Gibraltar to Alexandria and Malta , performing several runs before being assigned to Operation Collar , one of 35 convoys to support Malta between 1940 and 1942 , on 25 November . An Italian fleet — led by the battleships and — was dispatched to intercept the convoy . The Italian fleet was detected by a reconnaissance aircraft from " Ark Royal " and the carrier launched Swordfish torpedo bombers while the capital ships of Force H turned to meet the enemy . During the engagement , the Battle of Cape Spartivento , the Italian destroyer was damaged , although it is uncertain if torpedoes from the bombers or British gunfire were responsible . The British mistook " Lanciere " for a cruiser , while the Italian commanders received incorrect reports that the cruiser had been hit . British attacks failed to damage any other Italian ships or sink the disabled destroyer , and a retaliatory attack by the Italian air force saw " Ark Royal " as the subject of multiple bombing runs , none of which hit . The battle had no clear result , although the British convoy reached its destination unscathed . On 14 December 1940 , " Ark Royal " and Force H were redeployed from Gibraltar to the Atlantic to search the Azores for commerce raiders . " Ark Royal " returned to the Mediterranean on 20 December , and escorted the battleship and merchant ships from Malta until 27 December . Force H then became involved in Operation Excess , a plan to move convoys through the Mediterranean to support the Western Desert Force , which was trying to push Italian land forces from Egypt into Libya . Over the next month , British control of the Mediterranean theatre was weakened , particularly by the entry of the " Luftwaffe " and the near - loss of the aircraft carrier . The Mediterranean Fleet was under pressure from Axis forces in the Eastern Mediterranean , while the British port at Gibraltar was likely to be lost if the Spanish chose to ally with the Germans instead of remaining out of the war . To relieve the Mediterranean Fleet , while demonstrating British strength to the Spanish , the Admiralty and Admiral Cunningham planned to use " Ark Royal " s Swordfish bombers in raids against Italian targets , supported by bombardment from heavy fleet units . The first bombing , on 2 January against the Tirso Dam in Sardinia , was unsuccessful , but " Ark Royal " s Swordfish bombers were more successful on 6 January , when they bombed the port city of Genoa . The carrier ' s aircraft also covered the battlecruiser " Renown " and battleship " Malaya " while they shelled the port . On 9 January , " Ark Royal " launched aircraft to bomb an oil refinery at La Spezia , and to lay mines in the harbour . Both operations were successful . Searching for " Scharnhorst " and " Gneisenau " . In early February 1941 , the battleships and headed into the Atlantic on the orders of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , commander of the German Navy . They were to disrupt Allied shipping and draw capital ships from other areas . On 8 March , Force H and " Ark Royal " were ordered to the Canary Islands to search for the battleships , and to cover convoys crossing from the United States . " Ark Royal " used her aircraft to search for captured ships returning to Germany under the control of prize crew s . Three ships were located on 19 March : two scuttled themselves , while the third — SS " Polykarp " — was recaptured . On the evening of 21 March 1941 a Fairey Fulmar from " Ark Royal " stumbled across " Scharnhorst " and " Gneisenau " at sea . Because of a radio malfunction , the crew had to return to " Ark Royal " to report , by which time the German ships had escaped under fog . The next day , " Ark Royal " re - established air patrols in the hope of re - locating the raiders . During the day , a catapult malfunction destroyed a Fairey Swordfish ; flinging the fuselage into the sea ahead of the carrier . Unable to stop , " Ark Royal " ran over the Swordfish and was overhead when the aircraft ' s depth charges detonated . " Scharnhorst " and " Gneisenau " reached Brest without British harassment , while " Ark Royal " returned to Gibraltar for repairs , arriving on 24 March . Malta convoys and Operation Tiger . " Ark Royal " spent April alternating between covering convoys and delivering aircraft to Malta and forays into the Atlantic to hunt commerce raiders . By May 1941 , Erwin Rommel ' s " Afrika Korps " were driving through North Africa towards the Suez Canal , pushing the Western Desert Force before them . With British forces close to collapse and strategic locations threatened , the British High Command risked sending a reinforcement convoy across the Mediterranean to Alexandria . The convoy consisted of five large transport ships , escorted by " Ark Royal " , the battlecruiser " Renown " , the battleship , the cruisers , , , and , and screened by destroyers of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla . Prior to " Ark Royal " s departure , Captain Holland left to recuperate from stress and poor health , and was replaced by Captain Loben Maund . The convoy left Gibraltar on 6 May , and was detected by Italian aircraft . The convoy — limited to and escorted by so many capital ships — was such a tempting target that Italian and German aircraft were mobilised . The British convoy came under air attack on 8 May , first by the Italian air force , then German " Luftwaffe " . Over the day , 12 of " Ark Royal " s Fairey Fulmars ( the maximum number available ) drove off over 50 aircraft , with the assistance of targeting information from " Sheffield " s radar and anti - aircraft fire from the escorts . During the initial waves , one Fulmar was lost , killing Flight Lieutenant Rupert Tillard and Lieutenant Mark Somerville , Admiral Somerville ' s nephew ; another was destroyed with the aircrew recovered , while several others were damaged . Consequently , only seven were able to face the main " Luftwaffe " force of 34 aircraft , while an attack just before dark was driven off by two aircraft and heavy fire from the ships . The convoy survived without serious damage : the only casualties were to mines , with the " Empire Song " sunk and " New Zealand Star " damaged but able to reach port . " Ark Royal " underwent another aerial attack on 12 May , during her return to Gibraltar . Later that month , she and fellow aircraft carrier " Furious " delivered Hawker Hurricane s to support Malta . Hunting the " Bismarck " . On 18 May 1941 , the German battleship and heavy cruiser began Operation Rheinübung by breaking into the Atlantic to raid shipping . After sinking the battlecruiser " Hood " and damaging the battleship during the Battle of the Denmark Strait , " Bismarck " shook off her pursuers and headed for the French Atlantic coast . " Ark Royal " , " Renown " , and " Sheffield " — accompanied by , , , , , and — were dispatched to the Atlantic on 23 May to search for the battleship . On 26 May , a Swordfish from " Ark Royal " located " Bismarck " and began to shadow her , while the Home Fleet was mobilised to pursue . At the time of detection , the British ships were away and would not catch " Bismarck " before she reached Saint - Nazaire . Fifteen Swordfish bombers were armed with torpedoes and sent to delay the ship . " Sheffield " , also shadowing " Bismarck " , was between " Ark Royal " and " Bismarck " . The aircraft mistook the British cruiser for their target and fired torpedoes . The torpedoes were fitted with unreliable magnetic detonators , which caused most to explode on contact with the water , while " Sheffield " evaded the rest . After realising his mistake , one of the pilots signalled ' Sorry for the kipper ' to " Sheffield " . On return to the carrier , the Swordfish were re - armed with contact - detonator warheads , and launched at 19 : 15 for a second attack ; locating and attacking " Bismarck " just before sunset . Three torpedoes hit the battleship : two impacted forward of the engine rooms , while the third struck the port steering room and jammed her rudder in a 15° port turn . " Bismarck " was forced to sail in circles until a combination of alternating propeller speeds was found which would keep her on a reasonably steady course which , in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state , forced her to sail towards the British warships with almost no manoeuvring capability . The German battleship suffered heavy attack during the night of 26 – 27 May , and sank at 10 : 39 hours on 27 May . Escorting the Malta convoys . " Ark Royal " and the ships of Force H returned to Gibraltar on 29 May 1941 . Despite the boost in Allied morale from the sinking of the battleship " Bismarck " , the war in the Mediterranean was going against the Allies . Greece and Crete had fallen to the Axis Powers , and the " Afrika Korps " was preparing to launch a final push into Egypt . Malta remained an important stronghold in the Mediterranean , but was coming under increased pressure from Italian and German air attacks , and could no longer be supplied from the east since the fall of Crete . " Ark Royal " was pressed into service , delivering aircraft to Malta during several supply runs throughout June and July , and escorting the convoys of Operation Substance in July and Operation Halberd in September . Despite some losses , the convoys succeeded in keeping Malta supplied and fighting . The continued Allied presence in Malta was a considerable problem for Rommel in Africa , who was losing as much as ⅓ of his supplies from Italy to submarines and bombers based there . Adolf Hitler decided to send a flotilla of U - boat s into the Mediterranean to attack Allied shipping , against the advice of " Großadmiral " Raeder . Final voyage and sinking . On 10 November 1941 , " Ark Royal " ferried more aircraft to Malta before returning to Gibraltar . Admiral Somerville had been warned of U - boats off the Spanish coast , and reminded Force H to be vigilant . Also at sea was Friedrich Guggenberger ' s , which had received a report that Force H was returning to Gibraltar . On 13 November , at 15 : 40 , the sonar operator aboard the destroyer detected an unidentified sound , but assumed it was the propellers of a nearby destroyer . One minute later , " Ark Royal " was struck amidships by a torpedo , between the fuel bunkers and bomb store , and directly below the bridge island . The explosion caused " Ark Royal " to shake , hurled loaded torpedo - bombers into the air , and killed Able Seaman Edward Mitchell . A hole was created on the starboard side and bottom by a torpedo which was judged to have run deep , striking the bilge keel , and detonating inboard of the side protection system . The hit caused flooding of the starboard boiler room , main switchboard , oil tanks , and over of the ship ' s starboard bilge . The starboard power train was knocked out , causing the rear half of the ship to lose power , while communications were severed shipwide . Immediately after the torpedo strike , Captain Maund attempted to order the engines to full stop , but had to send a runner to the engine room when it was discovered communications were down . The hole in the hull was enlarged by the ship ' s motion , and by the time " Ark Royal " stopped she had taken on water and begun to list to starboard , reaching 18° from centre within 20 minutes . Considering the list of the carrier , as well as the fates of other carriers , including " Courageous " and " Glorious " , which had sunk rapidly with heavy loss of life , Maund gave the order to abandon ship . The crew were assembled on the flight deck to determine who would remain on board to save the ship while " Legion " came alongside to take off the rest . As a result , comprehensive damage control measures were not initiated until 49 minutes after the attack . The flooding spread unchecked , exacerbated by covers and hatches left open during evacuation of lower decks . Water spread to the centreline boiler room , which started to flood from below , and power was lost shipwide when the boiler uptakes became choked ; " Ark Royal " had no backup diesel generators . About half an hour after the explosion , the carrier appeared to stabilise . Admiral Somerville , determined to save " Ark Royal " , ordered damage control parties back to the carrier before taking the battleship " Malaya " to Gibraltar to organise salvage efforts . The damage control parties were able to re - light a boiler , restoring power to the bilge pumps . The destroyer came alongside to provide power and additional pumps , while Swordfish aircraft from Gibraltar arrived to supplement anti - submarine patrols . The tug " Thames " arrived from Gibraltar at 20 : 00 and attached a tow line to " Ark Royal " , but flooding caused the angle of list to increase rapidly . Water had reached the boiler room fan flat , an uninterrupted compartment running the width of the ship , which forced the shutdown of the restored boiler . The list reached 20° between 02 : 05 and 02 : 30 , and when ' abandon ship ' was declared again at 04 : 00 , had reached 27° . " Ark Royal " s complement had been evacuated to " Legion " by 04 : 30 ; with the exception of Mitchell , there were no fatalities . The 1 , 487 officers and crew were transported to Gibraltar . The list reached 45° before " Ark Royal " capsized and sank at 06 : 19 on 14 November . Witnesses reported the carrier rolling to 90° , where she remained for three minutes before inverting . " Ark Royal " then broke in two , the aft sinking within a couple of minutes , followed by the bow . Investigation . Following the sinking , a Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the loss . Based on its findings , Captain Loben Maund was court - martial led for negligence in February 1942 . He was found guilty on two counts of negligence : one of failing to ensure that properly constituted damage control parties had remained on board after the general evacuation , and one of failing to ensure the ship was in a sufficient state of readiness to deal with possible damage . The board tempered their judgement with an acknowledgement that a high standard was being expected of Maund , and that he was primarily concerned with the welfare of his crew . The Bucknill Committee , which had been set up to investigate the loss of major warships , also produced a report . This report said that the lack of backup power sources was a major design failure , which contributed to the loss : " Ark Royal " depended on electricity for much of her operation , and once the boilers and steam dynamos were knocked out , the loss of power made damage control difficult . The committee recommended the design of the bulkheads and boiler intakes be improved to decrease the risk of widespread flooding in boiler rooms and machine spaces , while the uninterrupted boiler room flat was criticised . The design flaws were rectified in the " Illustrious " - and " Implacable " - class carrier s , under construction at the time . The Board of Inquiry closed its report with the observation that " Ark Royal " had sunk east of Europa Point , the southernmost tip of Gibraltar . This was accepted as the wreck location for 60 years . Rediscovery . The exact location of the wreck remained unknown until mid - December 2002 , when it was discovered by a BBC film crew from Gibraltar . The crew had been working on a documentary on maritime archaeology related to major battles of the Royal Navy . " Ark Royal " lay in two sections : of the bow had separated from the rest of the ship . A large debris field , which included the remains of the funnel and bridge island , parts of the ship that came loose as the carrier sank , and aircraft from the hangars , was located between the two hull sections . Analysis revealed that the port side of the ship hit the seabed first . The wreck was found further east than was stated after the sinking . Initially , researchers thought the wreck had been caught in currents through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean as she sank , causing the ship to drift eastwards underwater before settling . The presence of other debris in proximity to the wreck , including a Swordfish bomber that was tipped off the flight deck before the ship rolled , proved this false , as the debris would have been spread over a much wider area . The currents did affect her progress towards Gibraltar , despite being under tow for several hours . Study of the wreck also showed that attempting to restart the engines to provide power increased the stresses placed on the hull , adding to the flooding . Once power was lost , it was impossible to prevent the carrier from sinking — her fate was more the result of design flaws than of the actions of her captain . Notes . a . The Washington Naval Treaty ( signed in February 1922 ) imposed a limit of 135 , 000 tons on total British aircraft carrier tonnage , with no one ship allowed to exceed 33 , 000 tons , and only two to exceed 27 , 000 tons . The London Naval Treaty ( signed in April 1930 ) prevented signatories from constructing new capital ships , or converting existing capital ships into aircraft carriers , until 1937 .