text: The HMS Ark Royal was a young aircraft carrier...just three years old.  She participated in the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee and was involved in a number of attacks against French ports.  She pursued the Scharnhorst and the Gneisseau.  In May 1941 one of her torpedo planes hit the Bismarck and disabled her allowing other ships to close in and see the fabled battleship.  \n\nThe Ark Royal operated in the Med a lot in 1941 and on one of these occasions was torpedoed by German submarine U-81.  \n\nProgressive flooding choked the boiler uptakes; since she had no diesel backups, all power was lost, including power to the pumps. HMS Legion was ordered to take aboard 1487 officers and crew to transport to Gibraltar. After several hours, already listing heavily while under tow towards Gibraltar, the carrier capsized to starboard and sank on 14 November 1941. Only one crewman was lost during the evacuation of the ship.\n\nThe carrier capsized and sank on November 14, 1941.