Furious as she appeared in 1918, after the landing deck was built aft. (AUTHOR’S COLLECTION)
Clearly to the two-flight-deck arrangement with a central bridge and funnel had been a failure, but the Admiralty authorised DNC to design a reconstruction to a new flush-decked design for Furious on 5 July 1920. The estimated cost of the work was an incentive; at £1.3 million it was about one-third of the cost of a new ship. Despite the success of trials with an ‘island’ in Argus, it was believed at the time that a flush-decked arrangement offered more potential, as it would impose no limit on the
wingspan of embarked aircraft. Funnel gases were a concern, however, as Furious’s more powerful machinery generated six times the amount of exhaust gas as Argus and J H Narbeth, the constructor in charge of the project, was not certain that it could be trunked aft in a similar arrangement (see Chapter 5). An ‘island’ design was considered and tested in model form in a windtunnel, but eventually rejected in favour of a flush deck. Funnel gases were drawn into trunks which ran along either side of the hangar deck under the flight deck. To make up for this considerable loss of space Narbeth designed a second, lower hangar with the two combined allowing the embarkation of a considerable number of aircraft on the existing lower hull. He estimated that the rebuilt Furious would carry as many aircraft as Eagle and Hermes combined.
Furious in a disruptive pattern paint scheme in 1918, after modification with a landing-on deck aft. Note the prominent ‘goal post’ and rope barrier intended to prevent aircraft from crashing into the funnel. (AUTHOR’S COLLECTION)
Furious after the third reconstruction completed in 1925. The ‘cruciform’ lift forward was intended to allow aircraft to be struck down with their wings spread. It was also to prove useful for the early marks of Seafire, which did not have folding wings. Note the soot stains from the funnel exhausts aft. In this photograph she is still fitted with her fore-and-aft retaining wires. (AUTHOR’S COLLECTION)
The double hangar design led to concerns that the new ship would have a considerably higher freeboard than the original, and there were arguments about hangar height. Too low would impact on
future aircraft designs and might, therefore, limit the ship’s useful life; too high and the ship’s stability might be impaired. The compromise solution was to make both hangars 15ft high and accept the consequences; her freeboard proved to be only 3ft greater than that of Argus with her single hangar deck. The new flight deck ended well short of the bow, but below it two large doors opened from the upper hangar on to a short flying-off deck which allowed fighters to take off at short notice when the main flight deck had aircraft ranged on it. The idea had merit at the time with the lightweight fighters in service, but as heavier aircraft replaced them from 1930 the idea ceased to be viable. Except for the mounting of close-range weapons the space was wasted, and the idea was repeated only in Furious’ half-sisters Glorious and Courageous. A system of fore-and-aft retaining wires, like that first fitted in 1918, was fitted to hold aircraft on deck after landing, but it never proved practical or popular. It was removed in 1927, after which aircraft relied on their brakes when landing.
Furious after her final reconstruction, with a small starboard-side island and in Second World War camouflage. Note the anti-aircraft guns and a director mounted on the former flying-off deck forward. (AUTHOR’S COLLECTION)
Approval for reconstruction was given by the Admiralty in October 1921, and Furious was stripped down to the upper deck at Rosyth and steamed to Devonport, where she was rebuilt. Both lifts served both hangars and she was fitted with a bulk aircraft fuel installation with two 600gal tanks on the upper deck for immediate use, which could be jettisoned in an emergency. Fuel from a lower bulk installation was pumped up daily to replenish them. There were three bomb rooms, one forward for larger weapons, two further aft for smaller stores and stowage for 36 torpedoes; three each for the twelve torpedo-bomber aircraft she was intended to carry.
With no island, she was controlled from two positions at the forward end of the flight deck. That to starboard was the compass platform from which the captain and his designated officers conned the ship. That to port was the flying control position from which air operations were directed. The two were connected by a passageway off which were doors to the charthouse, main signal office, air and intelligence offices. Like Argus she had a retractable charthouse in the centre of the flight deck forward.
In 1926 she was fitted with the first flight deck lighting equipment to facilitate night landing trials.
These included the world’s first landing on an aircraft carrier and night and proved entirely successful. She subsequently specialised in night operations and was involved in a number of trials that led to improved lighting and landing techniques that were used extensively in the early years of the Second World War.
The new flight deck was constructed of 1in plating riveted on top of a series of I-beams, with a leading edge of semi-circular planform about 200ft aft of the bow. In 1933 four arrester wires were installed. They were continually upgraded, and by 1944 were capable of handling aircraft of up to 11,000lb at 60 knots relative to the deck. The lower hangar was longer than the upper due to the smoke exhaust arrangements aft, and the smoke ducts running along the sides of the upper hangar
reduced the amount of space available for workshops. Consequently part of the lower hangar had to be allocated as workshop space, reducing the number of aircraft that could be embarked from a potential forty to about thirty. She underwent a continual series of modifications and modernisations throughout her life, the last major one in 1938-39, during which the original 5.5in guns were removed and replaced by twin 4in dual-purpose guns and their directors. A small ‘island’ was added on the starboard side amidships. A low-profile structure intended for gunnery and flying control, it had a stump mast with a Type 72 aircraft homing beacon mounted on top of it. Ship’s navigation continued to be carried out from the small bridge structure on the forward starboard side of the flight deck.
Furious technical details in 1939
Displacement: 27,165 tons deep load
Dimensions: length 786ft 5 in beam 90ft lin draught 29ft 11 in
Machinery: 4 shaft Brown Curtis geared turbines 18 Yarrow boilers 90,820shp giving 30 knots
Armament: 6 × twin 4in; 7 × 8-barreIled 2pdr pom-pom
Protection: 2-3in side belt; 2-3in bulkheads; l-2in magazine crowns; 3 in magazine bulkheads;
I in plated flight deck; bulges designed to defeat torpedo warheads up to 440lb
Fuel: 3,830 tons FFO
Endurance: 3,700 miles ac 20 knots
Complement: 1,218
Aircraft operating data
Flight deck: 576ft × 9lft6in
Arresting wires: 4× 11,0001b at 60 knots
Hangars: upper 456ft × 50ft × 15ft lower 436ft × 50ft × 15ft
Lifts: forward 34ft long × 45ft wide aft 34ft long × 45ft wide both capable of lifting I2,000lband serving both hangar decks
Aircraft: over 30
Aircraft fuel: 20,800gal avgas in bulk stowage; two 600gal ready-use tanks Air weapons:
36 I8in torpedoes; l,600lb AP bombs; 5001b SAP bombs; 2501b SAP bombs;
2501b GP bombs; depth charges; aircraft mines; 0.303in gun ammunition; flares and pyrotechnics
Vindictive
Laid down as the cruiser Cavendish of the Hawkins class in 1916, she was renamed to perpetuate a name made famous by one of the ships that took part in the raid on Zeebrugge. The Admiralty decided to complete her as an aircraft carrier to increase the number of aircraft available to the GF. Her redesign included a small flying-off deck forward and a landing deck aft, and the drawings for the latter were used as the basis for the hasty design of Furious’ larger landing deck. She was, in effect, a smaller Furious and retained four of her original battery of seven 7.5in guns, leading to some enthusiasm at first for the concept of hybrid gun and aviation cruiser. She proved to be a failure on both counts. By the time she was complete the initial attempts at landing on Furious had shown that the turbulence created by funnel gases and the central bridge and funnel structures would never allow safe recoveries, and only one landing was ever attempted on Vindictive. Surprisingly it proved successful, because the ship was under way at slow speed and the pilot elected to land at a slight
angle across the deck, avoiding some of the turbulence. The 7.5in guns were hand loaded but fired a shell which was nearly twice the weight of the more common cruiser 6in gun, and was thus difficult and slow to reload in action. The ranges of the two weapons were about the same, so the larger gun, with its slower rate of fire, never proved popular in service.
Vindictive at speed in 1918 in her original disruptive paint scheme. The forward flight deck is small but still has conspicuous windbreaks, seen in the raised position, and derricks. There is no hangar under the after flight deck. (AUTHOR’S
COLLECTION)
Some consideration was given after the war to rebuilding Vindictive as an ‘island’ carrier, and a model was tested in the windtunnel at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). She was clearly too small to be effective, however, and after the war the flight decks were removed and she was converted back into a cruiser. The hangar forward of the bridge was retained, however, with a working space for seaplanes on her roof and a crane to lift them out of the hangar and on to and off the water. In 1925 she was fitted with the prototype Carey Catapult for trials. It was capable of launching seaplanes up to 12,000lb at 55 knots and proved a success; she served on the China Station with a Flight of six Fairey IIIDs embarked, which were used to search for pirates. Vindictive eventually saw service as a cadet training ship and finally as a depot ship without any aircraft embarked.
Vindictive technical details
Displacement: 12,400 tons deep load
Dimensions: length 605ft beam 65ft 2in draught 20ft 6in
Machinery: 4 shaft Parsons geared turbines 12 Yarrow boilers 60,000shp delivering 30 knots Armament: 4 single 7.5in LA; 4 single 3in LA; 4 single 3in HA; 6x 21 in torpedo tubes Protection: 1.5-3in waterline belt; 1.5in upper deck; I in magazine crowns
Fuel: 1,600 tons FFO; 800 tons coal as built
Endurance: 5,400 miles at 14 knots
Complement: 648
Aircraft operating data
Flight deck: forward 78fr long × 49ft tapering to 44ft aft I93ft long × 57ft wide, both steel
Hangar: 78ft × 49ft tapering to 44ft under forward deck
Catapult: 1 × HIII hydraulic, 12,0001b at 55 knots fitted in 1925
Lift: Hatch giving access to the after part of the hangar. Aircraft lifted out by crane or derrick
Aircraft: 6 in 1926
Aircraft fuel: Various amounts in 2gal cans
Air weapons: light bombs; 0.303in gun ammunition; flares and pyrotechnics