A tender needed cranes, machine shops, stores, fuel, accommodation, and maintenance space. It did not need enclosed storage for every aircraft: suitable water or nearby shore space could hold machines awaiting use. Its aircraft could operate from sheltered water while the ship provided their workshops and supplies. Cranes recovered the aircraft, and a catapult could speed up their launch. A merchant-type hull could cross the Atlantic at moderate speed, so strategic movement between theaters was feasible even though the ship was never intended to keep pace with a battle fleet.
Chapter · 18:01-25:22
What a seaplane tender must carry and support
HMS Pegasus introduces the cranes, workshops, stores, fuel, accommodation, and harbor-based operating model that defined a useful tender.