HMS Furious was Britain's first genuine aircraft carrier. She was built by Armstrong and laid down as a cruiser in 1915, before being converted to an aircraft carrier when almost completed in 1916, being further altered in 1917 and rebuilt between 1921 and 1925. HMS Furious had a displacement of 22900 tons fully laden, carried a combined crew of 737 made up of sailors and airmen, was powered by Brown-Curtis turbines providing a top speed of 31 knots and was armed with ten 5.5 inch guns; five 3 inch anti-aircraft guns; four 3 pounder guns; five machine guns; sixteen above water 21 inch calibretorpedo tubes arranged in four sets of triples aft and two pairs forward, and two submerged 21 inch torpedo tubes. Originally HMS Furious carried four Short Seaplanes and six Sopwith Pup aircraft, but difficulty with seaplanes on deck resulted in them being replaced by other aircraft. After the Great War HMS Furious was modified, and was armed with ten 5.5 inch guns, six 4 inch anti-aircraft guns and fifty-four smaller guns and carried a crew of 1100 and six aircraft comprising one Flycatcher fighter aircraft, three reconnaissance aircraft and two torpedo aircraft. Research Furious
Abbreviations
Ships
Research Furious