HMS Ark Royal (91) Country: UK Type: Aircraft carrier Service: 1938 - 1941 Ordered: 1934 build programme Laid down: 16 September 1935 Launched: 13 April 1937 Commissioned: 16 December 1938 Fate: Sunk 14 November 1941

HMS Ark Royal (91) was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Designed in 1934 to fit within the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England. Completed in November 1938, Ark Royal was the first ship where the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she was fitted with two hangar deck levels.

Ark Royal served in some of the most active naval theatres of the early stages of World War II. She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; a number of carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal. She was torpedoed on 13 November 1941 by the German submarine U-81, sinking the following day. Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries. The inquiries found that several design flaws contributed to the sinking, which were rectified in new British carriers.