The Abyssinia Crisis exposed the risk that support for the Mediterranean Fleet might have to travel around Africa, giving the aviation tender a compelling operational case. Henderson had already seen aircraft attrition, maintenance strain, and the need for completed replacement aircraft while commanding carrier exercises from 1930. He and like-minded officers introduced the requirement gradually through exercise reports, memoranda, and routine Admiralty discussion. By the time the London treaty was renegotiated, the support ship appeared to be an established institutional need rather than one officer's sudden proposal. A small group had built durable policy through institutional memory before asking openly for the final ship.
Chapter · 27:42-34:08
Exercises and the Abyssinia Crisis build the case for Unicorn
A decade of exercise evidence and Mediterranean logistics concerns turns an aviation tender from a suggestion into accepted Admiralty policy.