Converting old ships into seaplane tenders

The final aviation proposal adds a supporting hull to the aircraft plan. HMS Highflyer provides the example because one of her sister ships had been converted into a seaplane tender before being sunk during the First World War. Other old ships being discarded after the war could likewise lose their obsolete armament and become tenders for seaplanes operating away from established airfields. These mobile bases would support the remote communications and reconnaissance network proposed earlier while keeping naval personnel connected to aviation. Tenders might dilute attention to carriers slightly, but their small scale and the Navy's continuing work with floatplanes would limit that cost. The retained expertise could then ease the Fleet Air Arm's eventual return to fuller naval control.