After two patrols with Ocean to monitor North Korean compliance with the armistice, Unicorn returned home for decisions about her future. A proposed reconstruction would have added a new catapult, strengthened the flight deck, enlarged or moved the forward lift, and installed a crane for heavier jet aircraft. Combining the two hangars would also have created a major workshop capable of effectively rebuilding aircraft from the frame up. The work was scheduled to begin in 1954, but its expense competed with the urgent conversion of operational carriers to angled flight decks. The Navy chose to improve front-line flight decks rather than modernize a specialized support ship. Unicorn was redesignated a ferry carrier, moved into reserve, placed on the disposal list in 1958, and broken up in 1960.
Chapter · 1:04:59-1:06:55
Jet modernization loses priority to angled flight decks
Plans for catapults, stronger decks, larger lifts, and expanded workshops are abandoned as the Navy modernizes operational carriers instead.