Flooding spread into Ark Royal's centre boiler room, and choked boiler uptakes caused a shipwide power failure without backup diesel generation. Returning damage-control parties relit a boiler and restored bilge-pump power, while a destroyer supplied additional power and pumps and a tug took the carrier in tow. Water then reached the boiler-room fan flat, an uninterrupted compartment extending across the ship's width. That flooding forced the restored boiler to shut down and removed its power again. The increasing list led to a second abandonment, with the crew off by 0430 and the carrier sinking at 0619 on 14 November. A temporary recovery failed when flooding reached a remaining common machinery space.
Notable Point · 1:06:39-1:09:15
Why Ark Royal lost power again during salvage
A restored boiler briefly powered Ark Royal's pumps, but flooding across the fan flat forced another shutdown and ended the salvage attempt.