26th June 1917 On this day: HMS Furious    HMS Furious HMS Furious was a modified Courageous-class battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured with only a few heavy guns. Furious was modified and became an aircraft carrier while under construction. Her forward turret was removed and a flight deck was added in its place, so that aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure to land. Later in the war, the ship had her rear turret removed and a second flight deck installed aft of the superstructure, but this was less than satisfactory due to air turbulence. Furious was briefly laid up after the war before she was reconstructed with a full-length flight deck in the early 1920s. Name: HMS Furious Builder: Armstrong Whitworth, Low Walker Yard, Wallsend Laid down: 8 June 1915 Launched: 15 August 1916 Commissioned: 26 June 1917 Reclassified: As aircraft carrier, September 1925 As completed, her complement numbered 737 officers and enlisted men. Fate: Sold for scrap, 1948 Aircraft landing and the First World War On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup, believed to have been N6453, successfully on board Furious. He became the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. On 7 August, he made one more successful landing in the same manner, but on his third attempt, in Pup N6452, the engine choked and the aircraft crashed off the starboard bow, killing him. The deck arrangement was unsatisfactory because aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure in order to land. In the meantime, all three Courageous-class ships were assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (CS) in October 1917. When the Admiralty received word of German ship movements on 16 October, possibly indicating a raid, Admiral Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyers to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships. Furious was detached from the 1st CS and ordered to sweep along the 56th parallel as far as 4° East and to return before dark. Her half-sisters Courageous and Glorious were not initially ordered to sea, but were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the North Sea later that day. Two German Brummer-class light cruisers managed to slip through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed the Scandinavia convoy during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st CS was ordered to attempt to intercept the German ships, but they proved to be faster than hoped and the British ships were unsuccessful. Furious returned to the dockyard in November to have the aft turret removed and replaced by another deck for landing, giving her both a launching and a recovery deck. Two lifts (elevators) serving the hangars were also installed. Furious was recommissioned on 15 March 1918 and her embarked aircraft were used on anti-Zeppelin patrols in the North Sea. In July 1918, she flew off seven Sopwith Camels which participated in the Tondern raid, attacking the Zeppelin sheds there with moderate success. John Doran  Routine and Casting Inspection. Pioneer work continues  Reorganisation  Inspection  Training  Under Fire Again  A Day Out  Sports  Working Parties  Attack Made  Postings  Sports  Training  On the March  Aerial Activity    Training  In the Trenches  A Horse Show  At Rest  Change of Command  Diary  Table B.O.O.134.  Operational Order 134  Operational Order 134  Training and working parties  Quiet Day  G.O.C. inspected "A" Coy.  Training  Operation Order No.1 dated today. Major S.W. Montgomerie. Commanding 1st Norfolk Regt.  Trained in the morning. Rested in the afternoon.  Intermittent shelling as yesterday.  Divisional swimming gala  On the March  Administrative Instructions.  Administrative Instructions.  Operational Orders  Moved to Caestre Area.  Training carried out  In Action Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 26th of June 1917? There are:39 items tagged 26th of June 1917 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 26th of June 1917. Deck Hand Joseph Roderick Avis. H.M. Trawler Charles Astie. Read their Story. Cook. James Joseph Banks. SS. Serapis Read their Story. Gnr. Thomas A. Cable. 108th Brigade, D Bty. Royal Field Artillery Read their Story. L/Sgt. Walter Moffatt Carrick. MM. 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Pte. Frederick Critchell. 3rd Btn. Rifle Brigade Read their Story. Pte. George Oliver Cross. 10th Btn. Yorkshire Regiment Read their Story. 2nd Lt. John Spencer Dunville. VC 1st Royal Dragoons Read their Story. Sapper Fred Fretwell. 104th Field Company Royal Engineers Rflmn. Wilford George Herrington. 16th Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps 2nd Lt. Walter Edward Hills. 16th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Read their Story. Pte. Joseph Ingham. 250th Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers. Pte. Patrick McNaney. 1/5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. 2nd Lt. W. A. L. Robinson. 11th Btn. The Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment Cpl. William Statter. 5th Btn Manchester Regiment Read their Story. Pte. William Strong. 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment Read their Story. Rifleman Harry Sullivan. 16th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps Read their Story. L/Sgt. Ernest Tapper. 2nd/5th Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. Thomas Wall. 1/5th Btn. Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Cpl. Alfred George Wells. 175 Tunnel Coy. Royal Engineers Read their Story. Bdr. Robert Williams. 1st/1st Welsh Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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