Royal Naval Air Service - Naval Vessels of The RNAS

Naval Vessels of The RNAS

• HMS Hermes, a converted cruiser used as a seaplane carrier. Sunk in the English Channel in 1914.
• HMS Empress, HMS Engadine, HMS Riviera, HMS Vindex and HMS Manxman, all converted Channel ferries The first three ships each carrying three seaplanes were the "striking force" of the first naval air attack, the raid on Cuxhaven on 25 December 1914. HMS Vindex had a take-off ramp fitted and was the first operational ship to launch a wheeled aircraft.
• HMS Ben-my-Chree, a fast Isle of Man ferry converted to a seaplane carrier that served in the Gallipoli Campaign. Ben-My-Chree supplied the aircraft that made the first successful torpedo attack against ships. A Short seaplane flown by Flt Cdr C. H.K. Edmonds carried a 14 inch torpedo between the floats which was dropped from a height of 15 feet, hitting and sinking a Turkish ship. Ben-my-Chree was sunk by Turkish artillery in 1917, but without loss of life.
• HMS Ark Royal also served at Gallipoli, and continued service after 1918. She was renamed Pegasus in 1934, to release the name for the new modern aircraft carrier Ark Royal.
• HMS Campania was an ex-Cunard liner. Although she was much larger than those before her, the 120 foot take-off ramp was not sufficient for wheeled aircraft to take off. She sank in the Firth of Forth in 1918, after a collision with HMS Royal Oak.
• HMS Manica, a converted tramp steamer equipped with the Navy's first kite ballon observation platform for ordnance spotting during the Dardanelles campaign.
• HMS Nairana, a converted passenger ship with a take-off ramp.
• HMS Furious, a converted battle cruiser, with an 18-inch gun aft and a flying-off deck forward. She was rebuilt as a through-deck carrier after 1918 and served in World War II.
• HMS Argus, laid down as the Italian liner Conte Rosso in 1914, was completed as a carrier with a full flight deck in September 1918.