No tradition required the Navy to commission another Ark Royal, and politicians were not driving the choice. Some politicians opposed spending money on the aviation ship when a destroyer, cruiser, or battleship appeared more conventional. The Royal Navy nevertheless selected one of its most prestigious dormant names for the first purpose-built seaplane carrier. That choice complicates the stereotype of an institution interested only in battleship guns. It is evidence that naval leaders considered aviation consequential even before its mature fleet role was clear.
Notable Point · 15:00-16:18
The Ark Royal name signaled aviation's importance
Giving a prestigious dormant name to an experimental aviation vessel challenges the idea that the Royal Navy cared only about big guns.