Seaplane tender

A seaplane tender (or "seaplane carrier") is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.

The first seaplane tender appears in 1911 with the French Navy "La Foudre", following the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French "Le Canard". "La Foudre" carried float-equipped planes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane. "La Foudre" was further modified in November 1913 with a 10 meters flat deck to launch her seaplanes. [ [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/france.htm#foud Description] of "Foudre"] Another early seaplane carrier was the HMS "Hermes", an old cruiser converted and commissioned in 1913.

In the Battle of Tsingtao, from September 5 1914 the Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier "Wakamiya" conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids [Wakamiya is "credited with conducting the first successful carrier air raid in history" [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/index.html Source:GlobalSecurity.org] ] from Kiaochow Bay. ["Sabre et pinceau", Christian Polak, p92] The four Maurice Farman seaplanes bombarded German-held land targets (communication centers and command centers) and damaged a German minelayer in the Tsingtao peninsula from September to November 6, 1914 when the Germans surrendered. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/wakamiya-av.htm IJN Wakamiya Aircraft Carrier ] ]

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 Seaplane tenders had largely been superseded by aircraft carriers in the battle fleet by the end of the First World War, although aircraft were still of minor importance compared to the firepower of naval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 runways did not have to be constructed, and support facilities were mobile much like supply ships for submarines or destroyers.

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" (Australia, 1928)
* "La Foudre" (France, converted into the world's first seaplane tender in 1911-13)
* "Commandant Teste" (France, 1932)
* "Giuseppe Miraglia" (Italy, converted from merchant vessel "Citta de Messina" in 1927)
* "Dedalo" (Spain, converted from German merchant vessel "Neuenfelds" in 1922)
* HMS "Ark Royal" (UK)
* HMS "Ben-my-chree" (UK, a converted ferry used in WWI)
* HMS "Engadine" (UK, another converted ferry present at the Battle of Jutland)
* HMS "Campania" (UK)
* HMS "Riviera" (UK, sister ship of "Engadine")
* USS "Langley" (CV-1) (USA's first aircraft carrier, but converted into a seaplane tender in 1937)
* USS "Mississippi" (USA, an obsolete battleship used as a seaplane tender in 1914)
* USS "Currituck" and USS "Pine Island" (USA WWII-era seaplane tender, both later participated in Operation "Highjump", a 1947 mission to Antarctica)
* USS Norton Sound (Began service as Currituck-class seaplane tender AV-11, later converted to AVM-1 - first US guided-missile ship)
* USS "Tangier" (USA, a cargo ship converted to a seaplane tender during World War II)

References

ee also

* Seaplane bases in the United Kingdom