Why HMS Unicorn remained a warship rather than an RFA

Why was HMS Unicorn not an RFA, and would a modern equivalent be one?

Her aviation-depot role was a naval mobile-base function, and the discussion also treats December 2025 RFA recruitment pressures as relevant to a hypothetical successor.

The historical distinction given is between support work treated as civilian maritime activity and support integrated into naval operations. Unicorn belonged to the same commissioned depot-ship system as the mother ships serving submarines and destroyers. Her aviation workshops formed part of mobile naval basing. For a successor imagined in this December 2025 discussion, Alex also raises RFA recruitment, pay relative to merchant employment and entry requirements. Those contemporary staffing concerns inform his expectation of naval commissioning; they are not a settled decision about a proposed ship.