HMS Courageous (50)

Courageous shortly after completion in 1916
History
United Kingdom
Name	Courageous
Ordered	14 March 1915
Builder	Armstrong Whitworth
Cost	£2,038,225
Yard number	895
Laid down	26 March 1915
Launched	5 February 1916
Completed	4 November 1916
Reclassified	Converted to aircraft carrier, June 1924 – February 1928
Identification	Pennant number: 50
Nickname(s)	Outrageous[1]
Fate	Sunk by U-29, 17 September 1939
General characteristics as battlecruiser
Class and type	Courageous-class battlecruiser
Displacement	19,180 long tons (19,490 t) (normal) 22,560 long tons (22,920 t) (deep load)
Length	786 ft 9 in (239.8 m)
Beam	81 ft (24.7 m)
Draught	25 ft 10 in (7.9 m)
Installed power	18 Yarrow boilers 90,000 shp (67,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	842
Armament	2 × twin 15 in (381 mm) guns 6 × triple 4 in (102 mm guns) 2 × single 3 in (76 mm) AA guns 2 × single 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Decks: 0.75–3 in (19–76 mm) Barbettes: 3–7 in (76–178 mm) Gun turrets: 7–9 in (178–229 mm) Conning tower: 10 in (254 mm) Torpedo bulkheads: 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm)
Courageous as an aircraft carrier in 1935
General characteristics as aircraft carrier
Class and type	Courageous-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	24,210 long tons (24,600 t) (normal) 26,990 long tons (27,420 t) (deep load)
Length	735 ft 1.5 in (224.1 m) (p/p) 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a)
Beam	90 ft 6 in (27.6 m) (at waterline)
Draught	27 ft 9 in (8.5 m)
Installed power	18 Yarrow boilers 90,000 shp (67,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts, 4 geared steam turbines
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	5,860 nautical miles (10,850 km; 6,740 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	814 + 403 air group (1938)
Armament	16 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) AA guns
Armour	Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Decks: .75–1 in (19–25 mm) Bulkhead: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Torpedo bulkheads: 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm)
Aircraft carried	48

HMS Courageous was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy in the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by First Sea Lord John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns. Courageous was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later.

Courageous was decommissioned after the war, then rebuilt as an aircraft carrier in the mid-1920s. She could carry 48 aircraft, compared with 36 carried by her half-sister Furious on about the same displacement. After recommissioning she spent most of her career operating off Great Britain and Ireland. She briefly became a training ship, but reverted to her normal role a few months before the start of the Second World War in September 1939. A German U-boat sank Courageous by torpedo later that month, with the loss of more than 500 of her crew.