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Seaplane Tender
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Image:Albatross_(AWM_300122).jpg HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier) thumb|250px|The Australian seaplane tender [[HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier)|HMAS ''Albatross'' with one of her aircraft overhead (AWM 300122).html" title="Meaning of HMAS ''Albatross''.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|The Australian seaplane tender [[HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier)|HMAS ''Albatross''">thumb|250px|The Australian seaplane tender [[HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier)|HMAS ''Albatross'' with one of her aircraft overhead (AWM 300122)">HMAS ''Albatross''.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|The Australian seaplane tender [[HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier)|HMAS ''Albatross''">thumb|250px|The Australian seaplane tender [[HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier)|HMAS ''Albatross'' with one of her aircraft overhead (AWM 300122)
A '''seaplane tender''' (or ''seaplane carrier'') is a
ship which provides the facilities necessary for operating
seaplanes. These ships were the first
aircraft carriers and appeared just before the
World War I First World War - the first being
HMS Hermes (1913) HMS ''Hermes'', an old cruiser converted and commissioned in
1913. They had
hangars for storing and maintaining the aircraft, but no
flight deck as in a true aircraft carrier. Instead they used cranes to lower the aircraft into the sea for takeoff and to recover them after landing.
The ships were normally converted
cargo ship merchant vessels rather than specially constructed for the task. As aircraft improved the problems of using seaplanes became more of a handicap. The aircraft could only be operated in a smooth sea and the ship had to stop for launching or recovery, both of which would take around 20 minutes. The tender was often stationed ten miles or so in front of the main battle fleet with the
cruiser screen so that it would not fall hopelessly behind when it launched its aircraft. Seaplanes also had poorer performance than other aircraft because of the drag and weight of the floats. Seaplane tenders had largely been superseded by aircraft carriers in the battle fleet by the end of the First World War, although aircraft were still of minor importance compared to the firepower of naval artillery.
In the inter-war years, it was common for cruisers and
battleships to be equipped with catapult-launched reconnaissance seaplanes. A few navies, especially those which lacked true aircraft carriers, also acquired catapult-equipped seaplane carriers for fleet reconnaissance purposes.
During the
Second World War both the
United States Navy and the
Imperial Japanese Navy built a number of seaplane tenders to supplement their aircraft carrier fleets; however these ships often had their catapults removed, and were used usually as support vessels which operated seaplanes from harbours rather than in a seaway. These aircraft were generally for long range reconnaissance patrols. The tenders allowed the aircraft to be rapidly deployed to new bases because their support facilities were mobile, in a similar way to
depot ships for
submarines or
destroyers and runways did not have to be constructed.
Seaplane tenders became obsolete at the end of the Second World War. A few remained in service after the war but by the late-1950s most had been scrapped or converted to other uses such as
helicopter repair ships.
Seaplane tenders included:
*
HMAS Albatross (Seaplane Carrier) HMAS Albatross (Australia, 1928)
*
Commandant Teste (France, 1932)
*
Giuseppe Miraglia (Italy, converted from merchant vessel ''Citta de Messina'' in 1927)
*
Japanese battleship Ise Ise and
Japanese battleship Hyuga Hyuga (Japan, converted into hybrid battleships/seaplane carriers during WWII)
*
HMS Ben-my-Chree HMS ''Ben-my-chree'' (UK, a converted ferry used in WWI)
*
HMS Engadine (1911) HMS ''Engadine'' (UK, another converted ferry present at the
Battle of Jutland)
*
USS Langley (CV-1) USS ''Langley'' (CV-1) (USA's first
aircraft carrier, but converted into a seaplane tender in
1937)
*
USS Mississippi (BB-23) USS ''Mississippi'' (BB-23) (USA, an obsolete
battleship used as a seaplane tender in
1914)
*
USS Currituck (AV-7) USS Currituck and
USS Pine Island (AV-12) USS Pine Island (USA WWII-era seaplane tender, both later participated in
Operation Highjump, a 1947 mission to
Antarctica)
Category:Ship types
Category:Seaplane tenders *
it:Nave appoggio idrovolanti
hu:Repülőgép-anyahajó
ja:水上機�艦
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Seaplane tender
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