Tender patrols could release fleet carriers for primary duties

Persistent patrol aviation would impose cumulative attrition and might reduce the need to employ fleet carriers as the centers of early anti-submarine hunting groups. That could change how ships such as HMS Courageous were exposed, leaving survival as a possibility rather than a certainty. Building the force would also enlarge the Fleet Air Arm's pool of aircraft, fitters, and naval aviation personnel. The proposal fits the Royal Navy's wider mobile-basing organization, including Royal Marines assigned to defend newly acquired bases. Properly equipped tenders could double as harbor-control and communications ships, making them coordinating nodes rather than single-purpose aircraft transports.