The first purpose-built seaplane carrier

Earlier balloon carriers were adaptations, barges, or lighters, while Ark Royal was conceived as a seagoing aviation-support vessel. She was designed and built to carry, maintain, and operate heavier-than-air naval aircraft instead of receiving aviation equipment on an existing hull. Small American Civil War river craft may provide a limited caveat, but none appears to match a purpose-built ship intended for sea service. Ark Royal therefore marks an early move from experimental flying platforms toward ships whose primary purpose was naval aviation.