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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Fleet Air Arm
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The flying force of the Royal Navy, taking off from aircraft carriers. It descends from the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) of World War I. From 1915 seaplanes were carried on warships and were lowered into the water for take-off. The first vessel to be adapted as an aircraft carrier in the modern sense, with an extended deck for take-off and landing, was the cruiser HMS Furious. She was ready by July 1918 to launch six Sopwith Camels against some German Zeppelin sheds – the first carrier air strike in history.
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In 1918 the RNAS was absorbed into the RAF, and it acquired the name of Fleet Air Arm in 1924; in 1939 it was transferred back to the navy. A Fleet Air Arm Museum was opened in 1964 at Yeovilton, in Somerset, with a full range of aircraft from the early Sopwith biplanes to today's Sea Harriers.
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