View source for HMS Pegasus (1917)

{{Short description|British aircraft carrier}}
{{other ships|HMS Pegasus}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Pegasus (1917).jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Pegasus'' in [[dazzle camouflage]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Pegasus''
|Ship namesake=[[Pegasus]]
|Ship builder=[[John Brown & Company]], [[Clydebank]]
|Ship yard number=431
|Ship laid down=1914
|Ship launched= 9 June 1917
|Ship acquired=27 February 1917
|Ship commissioned=14 August 1917 
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship completed=28 August 1917
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]], 22 August 1931
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[Aircraft carrier|Aircraft]]/[[Seaplane tender|Seaplane carrier]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|3315|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|332|ft|4|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|43|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship power={{convert|9500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × shafts, 2 × [[Steam turbines]] 
|Ship speed={{convert|20|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|1220|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|20|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=258
|Ship armament=4 × [[QF 3 inch 20 cwt|{{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on|0}}]] 12 cwt guns
|Ship aircraft=9
|Ship aircraft facilities=1 × flying-off deck forward
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Pegasus''''' was an [[aircraft carrier]]/[[seaplane carrier]] bought by the [[Royal Navy]] in 1917 during the First World War. She was laid down in 1914 by [[John Brown & Company]] of [[Clydebank]], [[Scotland]] as '''''Stockholm''''' for the [[Great Eastern Railway]] Company, but construction was suspended at the start of the war. The ship was converted to operate a mix of wheeled aircraft from her forward [[flight deck|flying-off deck]] and floatplanes that were lowered into the water. ''Pegasus'' spent the last year of the war supporting the [[Grand Fleet]] in the [[North Sea]], but saw no combat. She spent most of 1919 and 1920 supporting [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|British intervention]] against the [[Bolsheviks]] in North Russia and the [[Black Sea]]. The ship remained with the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] until 1924, but was placed in [[Wikt:mothball|reserve]] in 1925 after a brief deployment to Singapore. ''Pegasus'' was sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]] in 1931.

== Design and description==
The ship had an overall length of {{convert|332|ft|4|in|m|1}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|43|ft|m|1}}, and a [[draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|15|ft|9|in|m|1}} at [[deep load]]. She displaced {{convert|3315|LT|t|0}}. Her two direct-drive [[steam turbine]]s, each driving a [[propeller shaft]], were designed to produce a total of {{convert|9500|shp|lk=in}} and a speed of {{convert|20|kn|lk=in}}. On [[sea trial]]s in December 1914, ''Pegasus'' made {{convert|9722|shp|abbr=on}} and reached {{convert|20.8|kn}}.<ref>Friedman, pp. 365, 368</ref> The ship was converted from coal to [[fuel oil]] at the suggestion of her builders. She carried {{convert|350|LT|t|0}} of oil which meant that she could steam for {{convert|1220|nmi|lk=in}} at her maximum speed. Her crew numbered 258, including 100 aviation personnel.<ref name=l0>Layman, p. 55</ref>

''Pegasus''{{'}}s main armament consisted of four 40-[[caliber (artillery)|calibre]], {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder]] 12 cwt<ref group=Note>"cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.</ref> guns. Two of these were mounted on the forecastle as low-angle guns, but the other two were mounted aft as [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft guns]].<ref name=f1>Friedman, p. 51</ref> They fired {{convert|12.9|lb|kg|adj=on}} projectiles at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|2235|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}}; this gave a maximum range of {{convert|11750|yd|m|abbr=on}} against surface targets and an anti-aircraft range of {{convert|19000|ft|m|0}}. They had a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute.<ref name=nav>{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_3-40_mk1.htm|title=British 12-pdr [3"/40 (7.62 cm)] 12cwt QF Marks I, II and V|date=21 November 2006|access-date=25 Oct 2010|publisher=navweaps.com}}</ref>

HMS ''Pegasus'' was fitted with a [[flight deck|flying-off deck]] forward, intended for aircraft with wheeled [[Landing gear|undercarriage]]s, and a prominent [[hangar]] aft. Two electric [[Crane (machine)|cranes]] were fitted aft and a twin-boom [[derrick]] forward to handle her aircraft. The smaller forward hangar was built under the ship's [[bridge (nautical)|bridge]] and the aircraft were raised to the flight deck overhead by one of the first [[Lift (elevator)#Aircraft elevators|lifts]] in the Royal Navy. The forward hangar could fit five single-seat fighters and the rear hangar had a capacity of four [[floatplane]]s. The ship could lower them into the water while steaming at {{convert|19|kn}} and recover the floatplanes at {{convert|6|kn}}. When ''Pegasus'' commissioned in 1917 she was assigned four [[Short Type 184]] [[torpedo bomber]]s and four [[Beardmore W.B.III]] [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]]. In late 1918 she carried four [[Sopwith Camel]] 2F.1, one Type 184 and three [[Fairey Campania]] reconnaissance aircraft.<ref>Friedman, pp. 51–52</ref> In 1919 she began to operate various models of the [[Fairey III]].<ref name=l6/>

''Pegasus'' carried {{convert|1300|impgal}} of [[petrol]] for her aircraft.<ref>Friedman, p. 365</ref> Her [[magazine (artillery)|magazine]]s had the capacity for eight {{convert|18|in|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo]]es, 72 {{convert|100|lb|0|adj=on}}, 108 {{convert|65|lb|0|adj=on}}, and 68, later 84, {{convert|16|lb|0|adj=on}} bombs.<ref name=f1/>

== Career ==
HMS ''Pegasus'' was laid down in 1914<ref name=g7>Gardiner, p. 67</ref> by the [[John Brown & Company]] of [[Clydebank]], [[Scotland]] as ''Stockholm'' for the [[Great Eastern Railway]] Company's [[Harwich]]–[[Hook of Holland]] service, but her construction was suspended by the beginning of the First World War.<ref>Haws, p. 52</ref> The ship was purchased by the [[Royal Navy]] on 27 February 1917 and was launched on 9 June 1917.<ref name=l0/> She was commissioned on 14 August 1917<ref>Friedman, p. 362</ref> and completed on 28 August 1917.<ref name=l0/> She joined the [[Grand Fleet]] on completion and was assigned to support the Battle Cruiser Force. She participated in a few uneventful operations in the North Sea, but was mostly occupied with pilot training and ferrying aircraft to ships equipped with flying-off platforms. ''Pegasus'' supported the British intervention in the [[North Russia Campaign|Russian Civil War]] between May and September 1919 and was based at [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]].<ref name=l6>Layman, p. 56</ref> The ship returned to [[Rosyth]] and was briefly decommissioned. She recommissioned on 2 December 1919 and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1920.'' Pegasus'' ran aground on 9 March off [[Kerch]], but was pulled off without suffering any significant damage.<ref name=g7/> She supported the [[Evacuation of Novorossiysk (1920)|Evacuation of Novorossiysk]] by the [[White movement|Whites]] later that month<ref>Snook, p. 50</ref> and remained with the fleet until 1924. In 1923 the forward flying-off deck was removed and the ship was re-rated as an aircraft tender. She was stationed at [[Singapore]] in 1924–25. On 5 July 1925 she was placed in reserve at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]], but was briefly recommissioned in 1929.<ref name=l6/> On 22 August 1931, the ship was sold to [[Thos. W. Ward]] of Sheffield for scrap, arriving at their [[Morecambe]] yard on 15 September, the last vessel to be fully broken up there.<ref name=l6/><ref>Buxton & Dalziel, pp. 29-31</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last1=Buxton|first1=Ian|last2=Dalziel|first2=Nigel|title=Shipbreaking at Morecambe|date=1993|publisher=Lancaster City Museums|location=Lancaster|isbn=0-905665-06-6|pages=29–31}}
*{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and Their Aircraft|year=1988|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-054-8}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, MD|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5}}
*{{cite book |last1=Haws |first1=Duncan |title=Merchant Fleets. 25: Britain's Railway Steamers: Eastern & North Western Companies + Zeeland and Stena |date=1993 |publisher=TCL Publications |location=Hereford |isbn=0-946378-22-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Layman|first=R. D.|title=Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1859–1922|year=1989|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=0-87021-210-9}}
*{{cite journal|last=Snook|first=David|year=1989|title=British Naval Operations in the Black Sea 1918–1920, Pt. 1|journal=Warship International|publisher=International Naval Research Organization|location=Toledo, OH|volume=XXVI|issue=1|pages=36–50|issn=0043-0374}}

{{WWI British ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegasus (1917)}}
[[Category:Seaplane carriers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:British involvement in the Russian Civil War]]
[[Category:World War I aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom]]