Editing Courageous-class aircraft carrier (section)

== Second World War ==
=== ''Courageous'' ===
[[File:HMS Courageous sinking.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Courageous'' sinking]]
In the early days of the war, [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer groups]] were formed around the fleet aircraft carriers to find and destroy U-boats. On 17 September 1939,  U-boat {{GS|U-29|1936|2}} struck the ship with two torpedoes, and ''Courageous'' became the first British warship sunk to enemy action in the Second World War. As ''Ark Royal'' had been surprised by a near-miss seven days earlier, the fleet carriers were withdrawn from this duty.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 1–3</ref>

=== ''Glorious'' ===
Force J, including ''Glorious'', was organised to hunt for the {{ship|German pocket battleship|Admiral Graf Spee}} in the Indian Ocean. They were not successful, and ''Glorious'' remained in the Indian Ocean until December when she was transferred to the Mediterranean.

''Glorious'' was recalled to the Home Fleet in April 1940 to provide air cover for British forces landing in [[Norwegian Campaign|Norway]].<ref>Burt 2012, p. 285</ref> [[Gloster Gladiators]] of [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]] were flown aboard to be transferred to Norwegian airbases. ''Glorious'' and ''Ark Royal'' arrived off central Norway on 24 April where 263 Squadron was flown off and their organic aircraft attacked targets in the [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]] area before ''Glorious'' had to return to Scapa Flow on 27 April to refuel and embark new aircraft. She returned on 1 May, after failing to load new aircraft because of poor weather. The task force was under heavy air attack by the [[Luftwaffe]] all day and was withdrawn that evening.<ref>Haarr, pp. 143–154</ref>

''Glorious'' returned on 18 May with six [[Supermarine Walrus]] [[Amphibious aircraft|amphibious]] [[flying boat]]s of [[701 Naval Air Squadron|701 Squadron]] and 18 [[Hawker Hurricane]]s of [[No. 46 Squadron RAF]]. The Walruses were flown off to [[Harstad (town)|Harstad]], but the airfield in [[Skånland Municipality]] was not yet ready for the Hurricanes and they were still aboard when ''Glorious'' returned to Scapa on 21 May. ''Glorious'' came back to the [[Narvik (town)|Narvik]] area on 26 May and the Hurricanes were flown off.<ref>Haarr, pp. 261–262</ref>

British forces were ordered withdrawn a few days later. The evacuation (''[[Operation Alphabet]]'') began in the north on the night of 3/4 June, and ''Glorious'' arrived off the coast on 2 June to provide support. She carried only nine Sea Gladiators of [[802 Naval Air Squadron|802 Squadron]] and six Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of [[823 Naval Air Squadron|823 Squadron]] for self-defence, as it was hoped to evacuate the RAF fighters if possible. Ten Gladiators of 263 Squadron were flown aboard during the afternoon of 7 June and the Hurricanes of 46 Squadron were also flown aboard without any significant problems in the early evening despite having a much higher landing speed than the biplanes.<ref>Haarr, pp. 308–310</ref> This was the first time that high performance monoplanes without [[tailhook]]s had been landed on an aircraft carrier.<ref name=h61>Howland, p. 61</ref>

Captain [[Guy D'Oyly-Hughes]] requested and was granted permission to proceed independently to Scapa Flow in the early hours of 8 June. On the way back across the [[North Sea]], ''Glorious'' and her two escorting destroyers, {{HMS|Acasta|H09|2}} and {{HMS|Ardent|H41|2}}, were found by the two German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}.<ref>Haarr, pp. 329–330</ref> No [[combat air patrol]] was being flown, no aircraft were spotted on the deck for quick take off and there was no lookout in the [[crow's nest]].<ref>Howland, p. 52</ref> The German heavy ships sank all three British vessels with most of their crews, although ''Acasta'' managed to torpedo ''Scharnhorst'' before she was sunk. Only 43 men from ''Glorious'' survived.<ref>Rohwer, p. 26</ref>

=== ''Furious'' ===
Until 2 October 1939, ''Furious'' remained on training duties, combined with anti-submarine sweeps off the east coast of Scotland.<ref>Jenkins, p. 277</ref> She was then assigned to the Home Fleet to replace the sunken ''Courageous'' and sortied on 8 October with the fleet to hunt unsuccessfully for the ''Gneisenau'' and escorting ships which had been spotted off southern Norway. ''Furious'' departed her berth adjacent to the battleship {{HMS|Royal Oak|08|2}} in Scapa Flow for more futile searches for German ships on 13 October, the day before ''Royal Oak'' was sunk by {{GS|U-47|1938|2}} in Scapa Flow. ''Furious'' served as the flagship for the convoy bringing most of the [[1st Canadian Infantry Division]] to Britain in mid-December 1939.<ref>Jenkins, p. 279</ref>

''Furious'' joined the Home Fleet off the coast of Norway on 10 April 1940 and her Swordfish made several attacks on German ships in Narvik on the following days. She refuelled at [[Tromsø (city)|Tromsø]] on the 14th and remained behind after the bulk of the Home Fleet departed on 15 April, her aircraft flying reconnaissance missions until ordered home on 25 April. Her port inner turbine had been damaged by the shock wave from a near miss on 18 April, and the damage was more serious than initially thought. After quick repairs, ''Furious'' returned on 18 May carrying the Gladiators of a reformed 263 Squadron; they were flown off on 21 May once their base at [[Bardufoss Air Station|Bardufoss]] was ready. She sailed to Scapa Flow once all the Gladiators had been flown off.<ref>Haarr, pp. 139–141, 261</ref>

On 14 June, carrying only half of [[816 Naval Air Squadron|816 Squadron]] for her own protection, ''Furious'' sailed unescorted for [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax, Nova Scotia]] carrying £18,000,000 in gold [[bullion]]. On 1 July she escorted a convoy of Canadian troops bound for [[Iceland]] from Halifax and ferried over almost 50 aircraft, spare parts and munitions. On his own initiative, Captain [[Thomas Hope Troubridge|Troubridge]] ordered all available space should be used for sugar bound for Britain. She reembarked her aircraft upon her arrival and made a number of air strikes on shipping in Norwegian waters and on the seaplane base at Tromsø through October 1940.<ref>Jenkins, p. 283</ref> ''Furious'' loaded 55 aircraft in [[Liverpool]] on 7 November and sailed for [[Takoradi]], [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]], on 15 November where the aircraft were flown off on 27 November to reinforce fighter units defending [[Desert Air Force|Egypt]]. By 15 December, ''Furious'' was back in Liverpool, where she embarked 40 Hurricanes for Takoradi. She sailed on 21 December and joined up with [[Convoy WS 5A]] which encountered the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Hipper||2|up=y}} on 25 December. The German ship was driven off by the escorts, and ''Furious'' reached Takoradi on 10 January 1941. She arrived in Britain on 5 February where she was given a brief refit. She made another ferry trip to Takoradi between 4 and 22 March.<ref>Nailer, pp. 154–155</ref>

Now with a new destination for her ferry trips, ''Furious'' transported two dozen Hurricanes to Gibraltar on 25 April where they were transferred to ''Ark Royal'' to be flown off for [[Siege of Malta (World War II)|Malta]]. She returned for another load of Hurricanes and arrived back in Gibraltar on 18 May. Some of these fighters were moved to ''Ark Royal'' via planks between the flight decks of the carriers berthed stern to stern. This time she accompanied ''Ark Royal'' and the two carriers flew off their fighters from a position south of Sardinia. She would repeat this ferry mission three more times from June to September 1941.<ref>Nailer, p. 165</ref> In July and August, ''Furious'' and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|2}} attacked German installations in the Arctic areas of Norway and Finland with limited success and heavy losses. Following her last ferry mission she was sent to [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, to refit.<ref>Jenkins, p. 284</ref>

[[File:A Supermarine Seafire being brought up onto the flight deck of HMS FURIOUS, August 1944. A25076.jpg|thumb|A [[Supermarine Seafire]] being brought up onto the flight deck of ''Furious'', August 1944]]

''Furious'' arrived back in the UK in April 1942 and spent the next three months [[Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z)#working up|working up]]. In August she was detailed to accompany the convoy bound for Malta in [[Operation Pedestal]], but she was to sail with them only far enough to allow her 38 [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s to reach Malta. This she did, just as ''Eagle'' was torpedoed, but ''Furious'' turned around after flying off her fighters and reached Gibraltar successfully. She loaded another batch of 32 Spitfires on 16 August and they were flown off the following day south-east of the [[Balearic Islands]]. After this mission ''Furious'' was sent back to Home Fleet for training. One last mission was necessary to reinforce the defences of Malta before [[Operation Torch]], and she arrived on 27 October. She loaded 32 Spitfires and launched them on the 29th before returning to Gibraltar to participate in Torch.<ref>Nailer, pp. 164–165</ref>

Providing cover for the Central Task Force, ''Furious''{{'}}s aircraft neutralised the airfields at [[Es Sénia|La Senia]] and [[Tafraoui]], both near [[Oran]], Algeria. She remained with Force H until February 1943 before transferring to Home Fleet where she remained for the rest of the war. In July the Home Fleet demonstrated off the coast of Norway in strength to distract attention from the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]]; ''Furious''{{'}}s role was to allow a German reconnaissance aircraft to spot the British ships and make a report then shoot it down.<ref>Jenkins, pp. 284–285</ref> She was refitted in August and spent the rest of the year training.<ref name=b2>Burt 2012, p. 277</ref>

On 3 April 1944, [[Fairey Barracuda]]s from ''Furious'' and ''Victorious'' attacked the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' in [[Altafjord]], Norway, as part of [[Operation Tungsten]]. ''Tirpitz'' was hit 14 times and needed three months to complete her repairs, although four aircraft were lost in the attack. The Home Fleet tried another attack on ''Tirpitz'' later in the month, but bad weather prevented any attack from being made. Instead the aircraft attempted to attack installations at [[Bodø (town)|Bodø]], but found a German convoy instead and sank three ships. Three operations against targets in northern Norway, including two against ''Tirpitz'', had to be abandoned or diverted to other targets in May, but three German ships were sunk and two more were set afire. ''Furious'' and other carriers made another attempt to sink the ''Tirpitz'' on 17 July, but were unsuccessful against the fully alerted German defences. Four more attacks on ''Tirpitz'' were made in August, but only the attack on the 24th was even partially successful as two minor hits were made.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 314, 320, 322, 343, 350–351</ref>

As the war progressed, the ship's age and limitations became increasingly apparent, and ''Furious'' was placed in reserve on 15 September 1944. She was [[paid off]] in April 1945 and used to evaluate the effects of aircraft explosives on the ship's structure. She was sold in 1948 for scrap, which was completed in 1954 at [[Troon]].<ref name=b2 />