Unicorn returned the battered Salerno Seafires to Britain and was refitted for her intended repair role before joining the Eastern Fleet. She carried aircraft to India, supported deck-landing practice at Trincomalee, and retained Barracudas for her own anti-submarine protection. A later Durban refit created separate workshops because British and American engines used incompatible screw threads and electrical fittings. That detail shows the industrial complexity hidden inside coalition carrier operations. An explicitly unverified family anecdote says American aviators admired the field modifications produced by this floating workshop even while describing the ship in distinctly informal terms.
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The Eastern Fleet turns Unicorn into a mobile repair hub
After Salerno, Unicorn receives workshops capable of supporting British and American aircraft engines for operations in Asia.