Argus had been laid down in 1914 as a passenger liner for an Italian company before the Royal Navy took over the hull and completed it as an aircraft carrier. She entered service in 1918 with a large flat flight deck over the hull and without the familiar island and funnel arrangement of later carriers. Exhaust gases discharged beneath the flight deck at the stern, while a small bridge could rise and retract at the deck edge according to flying needs. The description gives viewers a compact example of how early carrier designers adapted a civilian hull before later layouts became standard.
Chapter · 2:00:21-2:01:06
How a passenger liner became HMS Argus
John Moffat's memoir describes the converted liner hull, uninterrupted flight deck, unusual exhaust arrangement, and retractable bridge of HMS Argus.