HMS Argus and First World War merchant conversions provide precedents for the later escort-carrier concept. British writing in the 1920s and 1930s envisaged merchant hulls supporting cruiser and escort operations. In this account, later claims to have invented the type obscure that earlier work. The accompanying criticism separates credit for the idea from the Royal Navy's practical desire to obtain converted ships.
Notable Point · 42:24-43:36
Escort-carrier thinking before the Second World War
HMS Argus, First World War merchant conversions, and later Royal Navy studies place the escort-carrier idea well before its wartime mass use.