Description: The HMS Ark Royal was launched in 1938 and saw action World War Two. She participated in the search to find and sink the Bismarck. She was sunk by the German U-boat U-81 in 1941, in the west Mediterranean Sea, only 25 nautical miles away from Gibraltar. She was the first British purpose built aircraft carrier and saw many of the new developments that characterise todays aircraft carriers.
The pictures below are taken from the life and death of a much loved ship.