A seaplane tender could carry the equipment needed to establish an air station in a sheltered harbor. A lighter could take bulldozers and runway matting ashore while the ship supported floatplanes on the water. The US Navy's Barnegat class provides the working example: fuel, stores, maintenance equipment, and a space for lifting an aircraft aboard traveled together. Temporary accommodation and parking areas could be built locally, while the demanding machine shops and other permanent facilities had already been fitted in the shipyard. Medical facilities and the staff needed to administer flying operations also remained aboard. Moving the tender therefore moved the expensive parts of the air station.
Chapter · 50:20-53:58
The US Navy model for a movable seaplane base
Barnegat-class tenders kept workshops, fuel, medical facilities, and administration afloat while simpler accommodation and aircraft parking went ashore.