While Ark Royal, Nelson, and Rodney escorted the damaged submarine Spearfish, a German bomber missed the carrier by about one hundred feet after she turned hard to starboard. A later reconnaissance flight found the two battleships but not Ark Royal, encouraging a false German claim that the carrier had been sunk. Winston Churchill reassured President Roosevelt, the US naval attache was invited to view the undamaged ship, and Britain's naval attache in Rome assured Benito Mussolini that she remained in service. The public disproof embarrassed the Nazi propaganda apparatus and helped make Ark Royal a marked target. She later operated with Renown in Force K during the Graf Spee crisis and escorted Exeter home for repair.
Notable Point · 33:39-37:57
A false sinking claim made Ark Royal a marked ship
A near miss became a German propaganda claim that Ark Royal had sunk, and its public disproof increased the prestige attached to destroying her.