Vindictive tested carrier arrangements while naval aviation was still developing

What was the idea behind converting HMS Cavendish into HMS Vindictive?

It was an early carrier experiment during the First World War, when the navy was still working out how such ships should operate.

The Cavendish-to-Vindictive conversion is treated as an early experiment in carrier design. One panel member questions the limited flying-deck arrangement and its later reversal. Another places the decision in the First World War, when the navy was still learning how carriers should work. A full conversion into a small carrier might have produced different experience, but that remains a counterfactual suggestion.