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HMS ARK ROYAL model
HMS Ark Royal was the world's first ship designed
and built as a seaplane carrier. She was purchased
by the Royal Navy in 1914 shortly after her keel had
been laid and modified almost totally to accommodate
seaplanes. 7,000 tons and 366 feet long, she was
propelled by a single vertical triple-expansion
steam engine, with 3,030 nautical miles range.
HMS Ark Royal seaplane carrier's crew consisted of 180
officers and men plus 60 aviation personnel. Rather
unique, she was fitted with a steadying sail on the
mizzen to stay on course in the wind.
Normal
provision for the onboard squadron was five seaplanes,
but also 2-4 wheeled aircraft. They took off from the
platform, and landed on the coast after the operation,
while the seaplanes operated at all times with the
carrier.
During the First World War, the HMS Ark Royal participated
in the Gallipoli Campaign in early 1915, with her
aircraft conducting aerial reconnaissance and
observation missions. Her aircraft later supported
British troops on the Macedonian Front in 1916, before
she returned to the Dardanelles to act as a depot ship
for all the seaplanes operating in the area. In January
1918, several of her aircraft unsuccessfully attacked
the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben when she sortied
from the Dardanelles to attack Allied ships in the area.
The ship left the area later in the year to support
seaplanes conducting anti-submarine patrols over the
southern Aegean Sea.
After the
war, HMS Ark Royal was used as an aircraft transport and
depot ship. She operated in support of White Russian and
British troops against the Bolsheviks in the Caspian Sea
and the Black Sea area. The next year she was sent in
Africa, conveying and supplying Royal Air Force aircraft
in British Somaliland to deal with an insurrection. When
she returned home, she was placed in reserve but
recommissioned to carry squadron to the Dardanelles (Chanak
Crisis in 1922). By 1923 she was placed in reserve.
Recommissioned in 1930, HMS Ark Royal was used for training
seaplane pilots. She also participated in aircraft
catapult tests and further launch training. Renamed at
last HMS Pegasus in 1934, she served until the beginning
of WW2. She started a new wartime career as an aircraft
transport, and training ship. But soon she was modified
to test a new model of prototype fighter catapult ship.
This primarily wood HMS Ark Royal
model is 30.5" long x 14" tall x 6" wide (1/144 scale.) $3,690
Shipping and insurance in the contiguous USA included.This model is in stock
and can be shipped within five business days.
$3,990
Shipping and insurance to outside of the contiguous USA.This model is in stock
and can be shipped within five business days.
Learn more about the
HMS ARK ROYAL here:
Ark Royal model.
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