FROM LINER TO SEAPLANE CARRIER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 218, 9 June 1919, Page 6

FROM LINER TO SEAPLANE CARRIER

A V7.tR TRANSFORMATION. Many a strange, vessel sailed the seas under'tho British flag between 19l4'and 1919, but few stranger- than H.M. sea-plane-carrying ship Argus. With a level .platform extending from the. bow to the stern, she looked like a portion of a dock wall, which'had floated out to Ben. The absence of funnels, masts, and the usual picturesque upper works combined with "dazzle" painting of'the hull (for the purposes of concealment) to render her anything like a thing of beauty, but-from tho engineering point of view she was a joy for ever. She began existence as. a first-class passenger and. caTgo steamer, but before her hull was finished the war broke out. and the Admiralty decided to finish her as a seaplane carrier. , The 6helter-dock was transformed into' a hangar, with the workshops;, and above it was erected tho flying-deck, from which the 'planes could rise, and on' which they could ■ land. Elaborate experiments were made to' discover the structuro best suited to prevent eddies which would disturb the 'planes on landing, and an ingenious 6ystem of horizontal funnels, discharging at the stern, had to be designed to carry the hot gases clear of the flying-deck. The nayigating-bridge was placed 'under the flying-deck, and near tho bow, but the chart-house was placed on a hydraulic lift, so that it could he raised clear oftho flying-deck, in order to command an open view. Electric lifts were installed to raise the aeroplanes from tho hangar to tho. flying deck, and at the stern and amidships were placed electric cranes for hoisting 'planes from the water, i At night tho flying-deck was illuminated to guide the pilots when landing. In every respect tho ship was a complete success, and'reflected great credit on the British engineers and shipbuilders, who improvised her under tho stress of war.