Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 56:53-57:19

The interwar path toward purpose-built escort carriers

HMS Argus is used to show that the Royal Navy had an interwar design path toward a minimal carrier based on merchant-ship principles.

Carrier DesignEscort CarriersHMS ArgusMerchant ShipsRoyal Navy
Watch at this timeFull video guide
Question

Did the Royal Navy consider merchant hulls designed specifically for escort-carrier conversion before the Second World War?

Short answer

Yes; interwar studies evolved the lessons of HMS Argus toward the minimum practical escort-carrier design.

Notes

The Royal Navy had continuing ideas for escort carriers before the late 1930s. The discussion points to the visual and functional relationship between HMS Argus and later escort carriers as evidence of a design lineage. The underlying problem was to identify the minimum viable carrier that a merchant-derived hull could support. The exchange helps explain why wartime escort carriers were not invented from a blank page.