HMS Unicorn and forward aviation support

Could HMS Unicorn's auxiliary status have avoided carrier construction pauses, and why was Triumph later converted instead?

The Royal Navy tried the auxiliary route, but construction was still paused; Triumph later looked more attractive because she was newer, had more hull life, and lacked Unicorn's wartime wear.

HMS Unicorn's forward aviation-support role made her wartime timing strategically important. The Royal Navy tried to use the auxiliary classification both for Unicorn and for a planned sister, probably to be named Ocean, but construction was still paused. Concentrating resources during the pause in other carrier and capital-ship work might otherwise have brought both ships into service in late 1940 or early 1941. Their availability could have changed several 1941 operations, and Force Z was unlikely to have gone to Malaya without some carrier support. Triumph later appeared more suitable for conversion because she was newer, had more remaining hull life, and lacked Unicorn's wartime wear.