HMS Furious with split flight deck
Here we see the early aircraft carrier HMS Furious in her second configuration, with forward and aft flight decks separated by her original battlecruiser superstructure. Although the first landing on a moving ship was carried out on the foreward deck, the pilot, Edwin Dunning, was killed on his third attempt, and landings on that deck were then banned. The main problem was that in order to land the pilot had to approach from the stern, fly around the superstructure and slip sideways over the flight deck before cutting power to land. The rear deck allowed for more conventional landings, with the curtain barrier at the end to catch any aircraft that didn't stop. Here we see an aircraft on the forward deck and the Submarine Scout airship SSZ 59 on the rear flight deck during landing trials on 27 May 1918.
How to cite this article:
Rickard, J (14 December 2024), HMS Furious with split flight deck , https://www.historyofwar.org/Pictures/pictures_hms_furious_split_flight_deck.html
