Ark Royal: The Life, Death and Rediscovery of the Legendary Second World War Aircraft Carrier

The Life, Death and Rediscovery of the Legendary Second World War Aircraft Carrier.

The fascinating story of the life, legend and rediscovery of a British naval icon.

In June 1941 HMS Ark Royal sailed through a ferocious storm intent on tracking the Bismarck. A dozen swordfish bombers took off from her deck and pounded shell after shell into the German battleship, sending her to the ocean floor. It was a signal victory that resonated around the world. Hitler, furious at the loss of the German fleet’s flagship, demanded the destruction of the Ark Royal.

HMS Ark Royal, launched in 1938, was one of the most sophisticated weapons in the British military arsenal. In her first two years of operation the Ark Royal survived countless attacks, and was considered one of the luckiest ships in the navy. But her luck was not to last, and within one month of sinking the Bismarck, HMS Ark Royal was destroyed while sailing off the coast of Gibraltar. There she rested, one kilometre beneath the sea, until her wreck was discovered by Mike Rossiter in 2004.

In gripping detail, and using the testimony of survivors and the men who lived, flew and fought on the Ark Royal, Mike Rossiter tells her remarkable story, and of the quest to discover this naval legend.

Mike Rossiter is an independent documentary filmmaker, whose work has been nominated for BAFTA and EMMY awards. In 2001 he filmed the search and recovery of the body of Donald Campbell and his record-breaking jet boat, Bluebird, from Coniston Water. Publication of Ark Royal is accompanied by a BBC documentary.