Q&A · 1:48:31-1:49:45

Carrier fuel systems evolved through repeated upgrades

A notional Admiral-class carrier would not inherit one fixed Courageous-class fuel system because British aviation-fuel arrangements changed repeatedly between 1920 and 1939.

Question

Would an Admiral-class carrier conversion use the Courageous-class aviation-fuel management system?

Short answer

It would likely start with a contemporary early system and then receive the same kind of repeated upgrades that transformed British carrier fuel arrangements through the interwar years.

Notes

Aviation-fuel safety and handling developed through a continuing improvement program rather than one design choice. A conversion would probably begin with arrangements comparable to Eagle and Hermes around 1920, then receive changes associated with the mid-1920s, early 1930s, and late 1930s. A long-lived carrier's internal systems could therefore move through several practical generations without the ship becoming a new class.