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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # NH 63225:  British aircraft carrier Argus, photographed circa late 1918

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the BRITISH NAVY --

HMS Argus (Aircraft Carrier, 1918-1946)

HMS Argus, a 14,550-ton aircraft carrier, was built at Glasgow, Scotland. Begun as the Italian passenger liner Conte Rosso, the ship's construction was suspended after the outbreak of World War I. She was purchased unlaunched in 1916 and converted into an aircraft carrier, the World's first to have a full-length flight deck upon which wheeled aircraft could land and take-off with relative safety. As such, she established the general pattern for future aircraft carriers.

Argus was commissioned in September 1918, shortly before the end of the "Great War". She spent much of her first decade on the vital work of developing carrier techniques and training aviators in the demanding work of operating aircraft at sea. Her merchant ship hull, relatively small size and modest speed limited her utility as a combat ship, and she was superseded in fleet service as newer carriers were completed during the later 1920s. Laid up early in the next decade, she was later modified for use as mother ship for target aircraft and as a training carrier.

Argus served in a training role during much of World War II, but the desperate circumstances of the first years of that conflict sometimes required that she see front-line service, notably in 1942, when she served with Force H and later supported the landings in North Africa. After further training duty, she was reduced to reserve in late 1943 and spent the rest of the war as an accomodation ship. HMS Argus was sold for scrapping in December 1946.

This page features virtually all of our satisfactory views of the British aircraft carrier Argus (1918-1946).

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 63225

HMS Argus
(British Aircraft Carrier, 1918-1946)

In British waters, circa late 1918. She is painted in wartime "dazzle" camouflage.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 58KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42235

HMS Argus
(British Aircraft Carrier, 1918-1946)

Photographed in a British harbor, circa late 1918, painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
An "R" class battleship is in the distance.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 118KB; 625 x 675 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 63030

HMS Argus
(British Aircraft Carrier, 1918-1946)

In the Firth of Forth, Scotland, circa late 1918. A paddle tug is alongside.
The Forth Bridge is in the distance.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 63028

HMS Argus
(British Aircraft Carrier, 1918-1946)

Photographed circa the later 1920s, showing modifications made during her 1925-26 refit.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 475 pixels

 


The following photographs show Argus in the distance, with other British warships closer to the camera:

Photo #: NH 61776

HMS Barham
(British battleship, 1915)

In heavy seas, while participating in exercises of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets near the Balearic Islands, circa the later 1920s, as seen from HMS Rodney.
Barham is followed by the battleship Malaya and the aircraft carrier Argus.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 61775

British Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleet exercises


Battleships Barham and Malaya and aircraft carrier Argus at sea during exercises near the Balearic Islands, circa the later 1920s. Photographed from HMS Rodney, whose "White Ensign" is in the foreground.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 12 July 2001