The 1931 carrier's larger lifts and flagship accommodation

Some 1931 carrier studies allowed fighters to travel on one or two lifts with their wings spread. Ark Royal's later lifts required aircraft to fold their wings completely, so the earlier proposals offered a different approach to moving aircraft between hangar and flight deck. The 1931 designs also devoted more space to the bridge and flag accommodation. Contemporary jokes about designing the Rear Admiral Aircraft Carriers' flagship connected that emphasis with Henderson, who then held the post. His later tenure as Third Sea Lord linked this earlier thinking with Ark Royal and the armoured-carrier programme, although those designs gave greater priority to aircraft capacity or survivability.