Aircraft Carrier Furious: From Tondern to Tirpitz, 1915-1954

Stephen Watters presents the first fully comprehensive study of HMS Furious, a ship that was effectively the testbed for the carrier aviation which emerged in World War I and grew to dominate the war at sea in World War II. Aircraft Carrier Furious places the ship within the broader story of Royal Navy aviation during the formative years in which aircraft carriers reshaped naval warfare. Originally designed as a large light cruiser or battlecruiser, one of “Fisher’s children”—the radical, highly specialized warships championed by Admiral Sir John Fisher to prioritize speed and firepower over armor—Furious was intended to carry two 18-inch guns, minimal protection, and a designed speed of 32 knots. Even before completion, however, her role began to change. One of her main guns was replaced by a hangar and flying-off deck, initiating a series of conversions that made her an experimental platform for naval aviation. In this early configuration, she hosted the first aircraft landing on a moving carrier, flown by Squadron Leader Edwin Dunning. Subsequent reconstructions added a 300-foot landing deck aft, enabling Furious to conduct the first carrier-launched air attack, against the Zeppelin sheds at Tondern in Denmark in 1915. A further redesign and reconstruction saw her emerge as a flat-top carrier in 1925 and in this format, with a further development in 1938-39; she served until September 1944. Aircraft Carrier Furious follows Furious through her experimental work with the Fleet Air Arm and her active wartime service, including operations off Norway and participation in attacks on Tirpitz in 1944. Illustrated with a strong selection of contemporary photographs and color builder’s plans, it provides a detailed and clearly structured account of a ship whose influence extended well beyond her decommissioning in 1945, shaping the fleet carriers that followed.