A four-year reconstruction creates a new carrier

Furious's early service with the cruiser force and Atlantic Fleet had exposed cruiser-carrier, strike-carrier, and fleet-support roles that shaped British interwar requirements. Once Hermes and Eagle provided other carrier options, the Royal Navy could take Furious in hand for a major reconstruction from 1921 to 1925. The work amounted to building a substantially new ship inside an existing hull and demanded solutions to unfamiliar aviation, structural, and machinery problems. Its long schedule also kept shipyards and constructors employed during a lean period. The industrial work and knowledge gained during the rebuild were part of its value rather than mere delay.