[Sasebo vol 15] Ark Royal Observation Diary

Sasebo Naval District Anthology, Volume 15, Chapter 5
Title: Ark Royal Observation Diary
Author: Nakajima Rei (http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=1505915)
Original Dump: https://boards.fireden.net/a/thread/167134402/#167136928
Quite similar to "Warspite Observation Diary" in volume 13: https://pastebin.com/dqUzdXWx

Page 42
※ All data was verified by the editors. Supervisor: Kodaka Masatoshi
Warspite: Today I have the honor of introducing this lady to our base.
Her name is Ark Royal.
Ark: I am one of the great aircraft carriers that are the pride of the Royal Navy!

Hoppou: This time we got a "knight"!!
Zuikaku: Wow! A British carrier!!
Ark: (Your orders?)

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Page 43-44
Warspite: Even though Britain already led the world in aircraft carreirs
she herself later became the model for Britain's fleet carriers.
Ark: (I shall be in you care.)
Hoppou: A model!? What part!? Is she strong!?

Warspite: I suppose we should start with the full length flight deck.
The Royal Navy experimented with various flight decks from the moment it introduced carriers.
All the British WW2 carriers that succeeded her used her full length style.
Zuikaku: (Bow and stern!)
Hoppou: (Oh...)
[Dawn of the Carrier Age]
[Furious-san (Kai Ni)
Constructed as a light cruiser; flight deck initially on stern then later bow and stern.
Remodeled 1918.]->
[Furious-san (Kai San)
The world's first double flight deck. Remodeled 1922.
The last of Britain's carriers with multiple decks. Remodeled 1925.]
[Multiple flight decks were originally conceived to ensure landing and takeoff operations would not affect one another.]
[Argus-san
The world's first full length flight deck. (Houshou was commissioned first.) * Appears to have mixed this up with Hermes?　Hermes and Houshou were the first purpose-built carriers, but Houshou edged out Hermes.
Commissioned 1918]->
[Eagle-san, Hermes-san
The preceding Eagle and Hermes were also used as testbeds. They were both commissioned in 1924.]->
[Ark Royal]

HMS Ark Royal
Commissioned: November 16, 1938
Length: 243.8 m
Beam: 28.9 m
Power: 102,000 shp; Speed: 30.8 knots
Aircraft carried: 60
Armament: 8 x 11.4cm twin high-angle guns
4 x 40mm octuple "Pom-pom" guns
[Ark Royal's name is associated with the tabernacle ("ark") within which the Eucharist is stored. It's a traditional name that has been passed down among British ships.] * This etymology seems like a bit of a stretch.

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Page 45
Zuikaku: Wooow! I heard something about that from Akagi-san and Kaga-san too!
There was a lot of trouble until they got full-length decks!
[Furious-neesan Kai San]
Technology Transfer->
[Japan, picking up the idea of multiple deck carriers from Britain, converted Akagi and Kaga from battleships. They even went up to three decks.]
[However, it was troublesome to use, and they were remodeled into full length decks.]
Ark: Hmph, what they needed is a good role model.

Warspite: Her funnel, bridge, and bow are also worthy of note♡
Zuikaku: Wow♡♡
Ark: Indeed! You're right on the mark, Warspite.

Ark: A vertical funnel, to prevent smoke from billowing over the flight deck!
[More aerodynamic than the side funnels conventional at the time and reduces smoke over the flight deck, making it easier to take off and land.]

Ark: And by integrating the smokestacks into a single funnel, it becomes an island superstructure that gets out of the way of landing aircraft.
Zuikaku: Wow!
[The smaller the things on the flight deck, the better, as this critically makes it easier to land.
(Tiny!
Easy!)]
[Eagle and Hermes also had these two features. However, their small hulls meant the effect was unclear. Moderately sized Ark Royal made clearer the balance of these features.]

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Page 46
Warspite: And to protect the flight deck from waves, she had an enclosed, or hurricane, bow!
Even rough seas are no match for her!!
Zuikaku: And they're pretty cool too, those enclosed bows!!
(Must be nice!)
[Enclosed bows seal the bow and flight deck together]
[When the bow and flight deck are separate, waves during rough weather have damaged flight decks in the past (See the Fourth Fleet incident...). But with a hurricane bow, you're good to go!
(Wahaha)
Unenclosed]
[Anchoring and deck operations does get a little harder in exchange though.]
[Scone]

Zuikaku: So carriers following Ark Royal-san used this, right?
Hoppou: (It's flying.)
[Like Japan's Souryuu-class and America's Lexington-class, Ark Royal could be said she became the standard for future carriers.]
Ark: Hmph!
It's truly fitting that I be labeled a model warship!

Ark: And of course, I would be remiss to leave my aircraft unmentioned!
Now descend!
The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm's beloved masterpiece torpedo bombers!

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Page 47-48
[Fairy Swordfish Mk. I]
[Specs
Max Speed: 246 km/h
Stall Speed: 107 km/h
Crew: 3
Armament: 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns (one front, one rear)
1 x 18 inch torpedo
or 1 x 680 kg mine
Bomb, maximum 680 kg
8 x 76 mm rockets]
[Brief Notes on Ark Royal's Swordfish!
The aircraft were a little old!
But they were reliable and rarely malfunctioned!
Really slow, but easy to maneuver!]
[The back of the fuselage and wings were covered in aircraft fabric!]

Ark: The Swordfish!
Zuikaku: Ooooh! It's cool, but kinda cute...
...wait, what? A biplane!? Isn't that kinda outdated!?

Ark: The Swordfish is a plane that excelled while fighting in the last great war from beginning until the final victory!
Zuikaku: Ah.. sure... but... it's a biplane...
[The Japanese Type 97 Torpedo Bomber Model 1 is a comparable contemporary. It was an all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear.]

Ark: Hmph, indeed, the biplane design may seem dated, but that has nothing to do with how well it actually served.
Service has more to do with deeds and how beloved it was.

Ark: Let's start with feats of arms.
In the last great war, the Swordfish pulled off the Royal Navy's first U-boat sinking and had a huge role in the assault on Taranto and more!
[Sank U-64 by dive bombing]
[Battle of Taranto
Around here on the heel
Taranto Harbor
A night assault on the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto Harbor. Of the battleships, 1 sunk, 2 heavily damaged, the remaining 3 slightly damaged.
Only two Swordfish were lost.]
Zuikaku: Ohh! They pulled off quite a lot!!

Ark: But the greatest accomplishment of all for the Swordfish was...
Bismarck: Ngwahhhh!!

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Page 49
Bismarck: Co-
Come on, Ark Royal! Call off your Swordfish!!
Zuikaku: Bismarck-san!?

Ark: That's right, Swordfish created the opportunity to sink the Bismarck!
Bismarck: They get it, so stop~!
[Night of May 26, 1941. Ark Royal's Swordfish damage Bismarck's rudder.
Stuck turning to port, Bismarck was rushed by a British fleet and sunk...]

Bismarck: H-Hmph!! Swordfish are slow! If I had only had fighter cover, they would've been beaten senseless!
[Taking Cover]
[During the pursuit of Bismarck, Swordfish took little damage due to the lack of German fighters,
but during the later Channel Dash, they took heavy losses facing fighters guarding the German fleet...
(Slow...)]
Eugen: (They chased me too.)
Ark: Indeed... as a consequence of their slowness, Swordfish were sometimes forced to take heavy losses...

Warspite?: They were far too slow to evade fighters...
We thought she wouldn't be able to contribute any longer...
[Maximum Speed
216 km/h (with torpedo)]
[Fw 190 A-3
Maximum Speed
530 km/h (high above the sea)]
[The introduction of its successor also played a role.
Fairey Albacore
Zuikaku: Another biplane!!)]
[Japan's Type 97 torpedo bomber was driven back for similar reasons.]

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Page 50
Ark: However! That was not the end for the Swordfish!
Now it served to protect convoys from enemy U-boats. It continued to contribute as part of convoy escorts!
Swordfish: (Any U-boats aroooound?)
Zuikaku: (She's gotten excited again...)

Ark: When pursuing independently-operating U-boats, there's no danger of enemy fighters and low speed is actually an advantage!
Because of their inherent maneuverability and the little runway they need for takeoff and landing, Swordfish can easily sortie from even small converted carriers!
[When chasing slow submarines, being able to slowly fly around them comes in handy!]
[Outstanding maneuverability!]
[Fine even in the rough North Sea or on small flight decks!]
Zuikaku: Ohh!

Warspite: As you would expect from her, her obsolescent biplanes were equipped with surface radar and rockets!
[Abandoning torpedoes]
Zuikaku: Putting rockets on a plane with aircraft fabric!?
(Is this before or ahead of the times!?)
[All-metal boards were tacked to the underside of the main wings to prevent combustion from the rocket exhaust.]

Ark: And that's how Swordfish became the guardian of convoys from U-boats!
Warspite: But you yourself sank to a U-boat, unfortunately...

Ark: That's right.
That's a memory I will never stop lamenting... however,

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Page 51
Ark: As long as the present me has my Swordfish, I will never quail before a U-boat-

[Originally a U-boat]
Ro: I came to say hi! I'm Ro-chan! Yes!

Narration: Looks like she really is a little afraid of U-boats.
Ark: (Wahhhh! Get away from me!)
Ro: ??