Second World War
Furious remained on training duties, combined with anti-submarine sweeps off the east coast of Scotland until 2 October 1939. She was then assigned to the Home Fleet to replace the sunken Courageous and embarked nine Swordfish aircraft from 816 Squadron and a detachment of three more Swordfish from 818 Squadron. The ship sortied on 8 October with the fleet to unsuccessfully hunt for the German battleship Gneisenau and escorting ships which had been spotted off southern Norway. After returning from this search, Furious departed her berth adjacent to the battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow for more futile searches for German ships on 13 October, the day before Royal Oak was sunk by U-47. Afterwards she was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse formed a hunting group for German raiders. Furious served as the flagship for the convoy bringing most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain in mid-December 1939. In the darkness on 17 December, the west-bound ocean liner SS Samaria passed through the convoy unseen. She ripped off the horizontal wireless masts on Furious's starboard side, carried away five overhanging lifeboats from the port side of RMS Aquitania, and just missed the third and fourth ships in line.
Read more about this topic: HMS Furious (47)
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