Editing Courageous-class battlecruiser (section)

== Service ==
During her [[sea trial]]s in November 1916 off the [[River Tyne]], ''Courageous'' sustained structural damage while running at full speed in a rough [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#head sea|head sea]]. The forecastle deck was deeply buckled in three places between the breakwater and the forward turret.<ref>Burt, p. 309.</ref> In addition, the side plating was visibly buckled between the forecastle and upper decks. Water had entered the submerged torpedo room and rivets had sheared in the vertical flange of the angle iron securing the deck armour in place.<ref>Burt, pp. 309, 313.</ref> The exact cause remains uncertain, but ''Courageous'' received {{convert|130|LT|t|0}} of stiffening in response; ''Glorious'' did not receive her stiffening until 1918.<ref>Roberts, p. 54.</ref> ''Courageous'' also was temporarily fitted as a minelayer in April 1917, but never actually laid any mines. In mid-1917 both ships received a dozen torpedo tubes in pairs: one mount on each side of the mainmast on the upper deck and two mounts on each side of the rear turret on the quarterdeck.<ref>McBride, p. 109.</ref><ref name=b14>Burt, p. 314.</ref> ''Courageous'' and ''Glorious'' served together throughout the war. Both ships were initially assigned to the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron and later reconstituted the 1st Cruiser Squadron (CS).<ref name=p21>Parkes, p. 621.</ref>

[[File:FuriousSP 89.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|left|''Furious'' as originally completed]]

Even as she was being built, ''Furious'' was modified with a large hangar capable of housing ten aircraft on her forecastle replacing the forward turret. A 160-foot (49&nbsp;m) flight deck was built along its roof. Aircraft were flown off and, less successfully, landed on this deck. Although the aft turret was fitted and the gun trialled, it was not long before ''Furious'' returned to her builders for further modifications. In November 1917 the rear turret was replaced by a 300-foot (91&nbsp;m) deck for landing aircraft over another hangar.<ref>Parkes, p. 622.</ref> Her funnel and superstructure remained intact, with a narrow strip of decking around them to connect the fore and aft flight decks.<ref name=b14/> [[Turbulence]] from the funnel and superstructure was severe enough that only three landing attempts were successful before further attempts were forbidden.<ref>Parkes, p. 624.</ref> Her 18-inch guns were reused on the {{sclass|Lord Clive|monitor|0|warship}} [[Monitor (warship)|monitors]] {{HMS|General Wolfe|1915|2}} and {{HMS|Lord Clive|1915|2}} during the war.<ref>Buxton, p. 73.</ref>

All three ships were in the 1st CS of which ''Courageous'' was [[flagship]] when the Admiralty received word of German ship movements on 16 October 1917, possibly indicating some sort of raid. [[Admiral]] [[David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty|Beatty]], commander of the [[Grand Fleet]], ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyers to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships. ''Furious'' was detached from the 1st CS and ordered to sweep along the 56th parallel as far as 4° East and to return before dark. The other two ships were not initially ordered to sea, but were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the [[North Sea]] later that day.<ref>Newbolt, pp. 150–151.</ref> Two German {{sclass|Brummer|cruiser|0}} light cruisers managed to slip through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed a convoy headed to Scandinavia during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st CS was ordered to attempt to intercept the German ships, but they proved to be too fast and the British ships were unsuccessful.<ref>Newbolt, pp. 156–157.</ref>

=== Second Battle of Heligoland Bight ===
{{main|Second Battle of Heligoland Bight}}

Over the course of 1917 the Admiralty was becoming more concerned about German efforts in the North Sea to sweep paths through the British-laid minefields intended to restrict the actions of the [[High Seas Fleet]] and German [[submarine]]s. A preliminary raid on German minesweeping forces on 31 October by light forces destroyed ten small ships and the Admiralty decided on a larger operation to destroy the [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]] and their escorting light cruisers. Based on intelligence reports the Admiralty decided on 17 November 1917 to allocate two light cruiser squadrons, the 1st CS covered by the reinforced [[1st Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)|1st Battlecruiser Squadron]] and, more distantly, the [[battleship]]s of the [[1st Battle Squadron]] to the operation.<ref>Newbolt, pp. 164–165.</ref>

The German ships, four light cruisers of II Scouting Force, eight destroyers, three divisions of minesweepers, eight ''Sperrbrecher''s (cork-filled trawlers, used to detonate mines without sinking) and two trawlers to mark the swept route, were spotted at 7:30&nbsp;a.m.,<ref group="Note">The times used in this article are in [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], which is one hour behind [[Central European Time|CET]], which is often used in German works.</ref> silhouetted by the rising sun. ''Courageous'' and the light cruiser {{HMS|Cardiff|D58|2}} opened fire with their forward guns seven minutes later. The Germans responded by laying an effective [[smoke screen]]. The British continued in pursuit, but lost track of most of the smaller ships in the smoke and concentrated fire on the light cruisers as opportunity permitted. One 15-inch hit was made on a gun shield of {{SMS|Pillau}}, but it did not affect her speed. At 8:33 the left-hand gun in ''Glorious''{{'}}s forward turret was wrecked when a shell detonated inside the gun barrel. At 9:30 the 1st CS broke off their pursuit so they would not enter a [[minefield]] marked on their maps; the ships turned south, playing no further role in the battle. The German ships had too much of a lead to be caught by the British ships before they had to turn to avoid the minefield.<ref>McBride, pp. 110–112.</ref>

Both ships had taken minor damage from their own [[muzzle blast]]s, and ''Glorious'' required five days of repairs.<ref>McBride, p. 115.</ref> ''Courageous'' fired 92 rounds of 15-inch while ''Glorious'' fired 57, scoring only the single hit on ''Pillau'' between them. They also fired 180 and 213 four-inch shells respectively.<ref>Campbell, p. 67.</ref> ''Courageous''{{'}}s mine fittings were removed after the battle and both ships received flying-off platforms on top of their turrets in 1918. A [[Sopwith Camel]] was carried on the rear turret and a [[Sopwith 1½ Strutter]] on the forward turret.<ref>Campbell, p. 66.</ref>

''Furious'' was recommissioned on 15 March 1918 and her embarked aircraft were used on anti-[[Zeppelin]] patrols in the North Sea after May. In July 1918 she flew off seven [[Sopwith Camel]]s which participated in the [[Tondern raid]], attacking the Zeppelin sheds at [[Tondern]] with moderate success.<ref>Newbolt, p. 347.</ref> All three ships were present at the surrender of the German fleet on 21 November 1918.<ref name=b14/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gwpda.org/naval/opzz.htm | title = Operation ZZ | publisher = World War One: The Great War at Sea | access-date = 13 May 2010 }}</ref>

=== Post-war history ===
{{main|Courageous-class aircraft carrier}}

''Courageous'' was reduced to [[Wikt:mothball|reserve]] at [[Rosyth]] on 1 February 1919 before being assigned to the Gunnery School at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] the following year as a turret drill ship. She became flagship of the Rear-Admiral Commanding the Reserve at Devonport in March 1920. ''Glorious'' was also reduced to reserve at Rosyth on 1 February and served as a turret-drill ship, but succeeded her sister as flagship between 1921 and 1922. ''Furious'' was placed in reserve 21 November 1919 before beginning reconstruction as an aircraft carrier in 1921.<ref name="Burt, p. 315">Burt, p. 315.</ref>

The [[Washington Naval Treaty]] of 1922 required the signatory nations to severely curtail their plans for new warships and scrap many existing warships to meet its tonnage limits. Up to {{convert|66000|LT|t}} of existing ships, however, could be converted into aircraft carriers, and the Royal Navy chose to convert the ''Courageous''-class ships because of their high speed. Each ship was reconstructed with a full-length flight deck during the 1920s. Their 15-inch turrets were placed into storage and later reused during the Second World War for {{HMS|Vanguard|23|6}}, the Royal Navy's last battleship.<ref>Parkes, p. 647.</ref>

As the first large, or "fleet", carrier completed by the Royal Navy, ''Furious'' was extensively used to evaluate aircraft handling and landing procedures, including the first ever carrier night-landing in 1926.<ref>Jenkins, p. 274.</ref> ''Courageous'' became the first warship lost by the Royal Navy in the Second World War II when she was torpedoed in September 1939.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 1–3.</ref> ''Glorious'' unsuccessfully hunted the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Graf Spee||2}} in the [[Indian Ocean]] in 1939. She participated in the [[Norwegian Campaign]] in 1940, but was sunk by the German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} on 8 June 1940 in the North Sea.<ref>Rohwer, p. 26.</ref> ''Furious'' spent the first months of the war hunting for German raiders and escorting convoys before she began to support British forces in Norway. She spent most of 1940 in Norwegian waters making attacks on German installations and shipping, and most of 1941 ferrying aircraft to West Africa, [[Gibraltar]] and [[Malta]] before refitting in the United States. She ferried aircraft to Malta during 1942 and provided air support to British forces during [[Operation Torch]]. ''Furious'' spent most of 1943 training with the Home Fleet, but made numerous air strikes against the {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2|up=yes}} and other targets in Norway in 1944. She was worn out by late 1944 and was reduced to reserve in September before being decommissioned the following year. ''Furious'' was sold in 1948 for [[Ship breaking|scrap]].<ref>Jenkins, pp. 277–288.</ref>