Choosing Walruses, Swordfish, and larger flying boats

Walruses and floatplane Swordfish were the domestic choices for a tender program begun in the 1930s. The Walrus offered better reconnaissance range and more suitable water-handling characteristics, while the Swordfish could also attack surface ships with torpedoes. A pair of tenders could support one squadron of each, combining those roles. The proposed ships would initially be about 2,500-3,000 tons, with room released as equipment went ashore. Their workshops and stores could also support Catalinas landing nearby even if those aircraft could not fit aboard. Short Sunderlands could deliver supplies to the resulting bases. Larger tenders of about 4,500 tons could carry more boxed aircraft, although a larger design would make compliance with the three-aircraft operating limit harder to present convincingly.