For years Lord Fisher had planned to win
a war with Germany in one fell swoop. His
plan called for a landing on the Pomeranian
shore only 82 miles from Berlin, by either
UK or Russian forces. Please see the Courageous
Class history for details.
The third of Fisher's large light cruisers
was the Furious. She had all of the faults
of her semi-sisters, but carried an even
more useless battery of 2 18" guns.
Her secondary battery was changed away from
the troublesome triple 4" mounts her
sisters had, and the hull form was slightly
modified.
Protection was almost nonexistent, and it
would have been impossible to hit a target
at 32 knots with only two main guns. Only
one gun was fitted, the othe being diverted
to a monitor. Even in a single mount for
bombardment, this weapon proved to be unwieldy
and inaccurate.
The ship was never completed as designed,
as the Longhope Conference on Naval Aviation
in 1917 resulted in her large, fast hull
being selected for conversion to a carrier.
A flight deck and hanger were added forward
in place of the turret. This proved unsatisfactory,
and in 1918 a second hanger and flight deck
were added aft and the turret there removed.
Ramps passed along either side of the superstructure
to allow aircraft to be transferred from
one flightdeck to the other. This also proved
unsatisfactory, and in 1921 she was again
rebuilt, this time with as a flush-deck,
full flight deck carrier. A small island
was added in 1939, and the ship served throughout
WWII.
| Laid down 8 Jun 1915 |
Launched 15 Aug 1916 |
Completed Jun 1917 |
Commissioned 26 Jun 1916 |
| Fate Sold and broken up 1948 |
Builders Armstrong |
Complement 840 |
|
| Specs as designed, not as carrier | |||
| Displacement 19,513 tons standard, 22,890 full load |
Dimensions 750' x 88' |
Draught 24' full load |
|
| Main guns 2 x 18" 40 cal (2 x 1) |
Secondary guns 10 x 5.5" (10 x 1) |
Light guns 5 x 3" AA (5 x 1) 4 x 3-lbs (3 x 1) |
Torpedo tubes 2 x 21" submerged 4 x 21" above deck |
| Armour Belt: 3" Turrets: 13" Deck: 1" C.T.: 10" |
|||
| Machinery 18 Yarrow small tube boilers |
Turbines 4 x Brown-Curtis geared |
Power output 94,000 shp |
Shafts 4 |
| Speed 31.5 kts |
Range N/A |
Fuel 750 tons oil normal 3160 tons oil max |
|
Furious:
WWI Service:
Grand Fleet 1917-1918
1 Sep 1917 Refit, aft turret and mast removed,
flight deck added aft
15 Mar 1915 Recommissioned
19 Jul 1918 First successful carrier raid
against Zeppelin base at Tondern
Inter-War Service:
1921-25 Converted to flush-deck carrier
1 Sep 1925 Recommissioned
1931-32 Refit
16 Jan 1937 Fire in engine roon at Devonport
1939 Refit, small island installed
WWII Service:
1939 - 1941 Home Fleet Convoy protection
and ASW
Narvik and Norway Operations
1941 Mediterranean Theater Malta Convoys
Oct 1941 - early 1942 Refit at Philadelphia,
USA
Nov 1942 Operation Torch, North Africa
Feb 1943 Home Fleet
Strikes against German shipping in North
Sea and against Tirpitz
Sep 1944 Reduced to reserve
Occational use as target trials ship
23 Jan 1948 Sold and broken up Troon
