The term drone is traced to the DH.82 Queen Bee, a radio-controlled Tiger Moth derivative used as an anti-aircraft target. HMS Argus supported these aircraft so the Royal Navy could practise fleet air defence far out at sea. The old First World War carrier could perform this work because it remained useful outside interwar treaty tonnage limits. The example places modern claims about the first drone carrier in a much longer history of remotely controlled naval aviation.
Chapter · 18:54-21:36
Queen Bee target drones and HMS Argus
The De Havilland Queen Bee and HMS Argus show that radio-controlled aircraft and a naval drone carrier were already operating in the 1930s.