The Navy used Argus to test how aviation could protect convoys beyond land-based air cover. She was not built as an escort-carrier prototype. Exercises nevertheless employed her for fighter, strike, convoy-escort, and anti-submarine work, supplying experience that made later conversions easier to conceive. Unicorn's workshops and command spaces then made her a natural flagship and support ship for groups of smaller carriers.
Chapter · 49:42-54:11
HMS Argus and the escort-carrier idea
Exercises with HMS Argus explored fighter, strike, convoy-escort, and anti-submarine roles before wartime escort carriers appeared.