A widespread network of permanent airfields would be expensive, while carrier deployments would also require escorts and fleet auxiliaries. Two tenders offered a proposed way to establish air support in a sheltered harbor with fewer supporting ships. Each could sustain a squadron, carrying three aircraft ready for immediate use and additional aircraft boxed for assembly after arrival. One tender could bring airfield equipment while the other carried shore defenses, including 6-inch guns and Royal Marines. In the proposed schedule, aircraft could begin operating within hours, followed by defenses over the next few days and a shore airfield within about a week. Once established, the base could receive fuel and stores from merchant ships.
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Building a defended air station with two tenders
A proposed pair of tenders could bring aircraft, construction equipment, and shore defenses to establish a base that ordinary merchant ships could resupply.