Why merchant seaplane tenders were not carrier schools

The tenders normally handled one aircraft at a time, with capacity for little more than recovery, refuelling, and catapult launch. They operated more like floating fuel stops than the combined airfield, workshop, storehouse, and manoeuvring warship represented by a fleet carrier. Even Luftwaffe service usually raised their capacity only to two aircraft, far short of the tempo and coordination demanded by carrier aviation. Lufthansa operated them in peacetime, and the personnel and experience passed chiefly into the Luftwaffe rather than the Kriegsmarine's Graf Zeppelin programme.