Complete wartime air coverage ultimately required scores of fixed airfields, but tenders offered an affordable intermediate network that was not committed to one geography. Two dozen movable ships would provide only partial coverage, yet they could shift as threats and alliances changed. They could establish harbor infrastructure for patrol aircraft and interface with forward aviation-support ships such as HMS Unicorn. That made the ships part of an integrated mobile-support system rather than substitutes for every land base or aircraft carrier. The useful trade was less complete coverage in exchange for speed, mobility, and infrastructure that could be reused wherever the threat moved.
Chapter · 52:51-54:09
A mobile tender network traded completeness for flexibility
A couple of dozen movable tenders could not give complete coverage, but they could shift between threatened routes and support shore facilities.