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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Ark Royal
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Ark Royal
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Ark Royal
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Ark Royal

Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: HMS Ark Royal

Associated (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)
Medallist
DateMay 2004
Object NameMedal
MediumSterling Silver
ClassificationsMedals
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS072500.91
About MeThe aircraft carrier Ark Royal was commissioned shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. She was the first of a new class of ship, and also the first aircraft carrier, designed as such, which had joined the Fleet since the advent of the Hermes in 1924. The new carriers were soon seen to be the most valuable type of ship in the entire Fleet, so important had air operations become. Ark Royal was of 22,000 tons displacement, had an extreme length of 800 feet could steam at over 30 knots and carried 60 aircraft. Her name could be traced back to the time of the Spanish Armada, when the first Ark Royal (built originally for Sir Walter Raleigh) served as the flagship of the Commander in Chief, Lord Howard of Effingham.

After the war began, the Ark Royal became the particular target of the Luftwaffe, and she had several narrow escapes from damage. She proved her great value during operations off the coast of Norway; in the Mediterranean, where her aircraft were used to cover convoys; and in the Atlantic, where she played her part in the pursuit and destruction of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. The Ark Royal was at length torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat not far from Gibraltar in November 1941, by which time her sister ships had come into service.

So renowned had the Ark Royal become that her name was given to a vessel of 1950 which was the largest aircraft carrier ever added to the British Fleet.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.
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