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• The first Ark Royal was built as Ark Raleigh at Deptford on the River Thames in 1587, to the order of Sir Walter Raleigh. She was bought by Queen Elizabeth's navy for £5000 ("money well given", according to her new commander, Lord Howard of Effingham) and, as Ark Royal, was the flagship of the English fleet during the Spanish Armada campaign of 1588. In 1608, under the new monarch James I, she was rebuilt and renamed Anne Royal. She was broken up in 1636.
• The second Ark Royal , after a gap of almost 300 years, was a merchant ship converted on the building stocks to be a seaplane carrier and was the world's first aircraft carrier. Launched in 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos, she served in the Dardanelles Campaign and throughout World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of. She was renamed HMS Pegasus in 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne, to free the name Ark Royal for a new ship, and was broken up in 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with.
• The third Ark RoyalCareer Laid down: 16 September 1935 Launched: 13 April 1937 Commissioned: 16 December 1938 Fate:torpedoed by U-81 on 13 November 1941. Sunk 14 November 1941 Class:Ark Royal Class General Characteristics Displacement:22,000 tons Length:800 feet (244 m) Bea saw action in World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough and was sunk by a U-boatOctober 1939. U-47 returns to port after sinking HMS Royal Oak''. The battlecruiser Scharnhorst is seen in the background. A U-boat is any of the German submarines of World War I and World War II, as well as the Austro-Hungarian submarines of World War I. in 1941. Whilst serving in the Mediterranean she was called upon to search for Bismarck in the Atlantic. During the search her planes mistakenly attacked the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Sheffield. Fortunately, the torpedoes were not primed properly and no major damage was incurred. The older torpedoes were then fitted to her Swordfish planes and the hunt continued. Her spotter planes eventually found Bismarck. An attack commenced, crippling Bismarck's rudder. The damage sustained led to the rest of the Royal Navy surface fleet catching up with Bismarck and sinking her.
• The fourth Ark Royal was an Audacious-class fleet aircraft carrier. Her keel was laid down by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead on 3 May 1943. She was launched on 3 May 1950 and commissioned on 28 February 1955. After starring in the 1970s BBC series "Sailor", she eventually went to the breaker's yard in 1980.
• The fifth Ark Royal is an Invincible-class aircraft carrier. She served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.