The aircraft carrier was a new thing for all navies. Those that
could, converted vessels to prove the concept - ships to land
and take off aircraft - mobile aerodromes at sea. When
Antarctica was looking for such a vessel, the now obsolete,
Commodore Bancroft was felt to be just right. First was to prove
that this was possible. The Bancroft had its main and secondary
armaments removed and a flying off deck and flying on deck
fitted fore and aft. A track was fitted between the two decks to
allow aircraft to be moved from one end of the ship to the
other. While this was awkward, the ability to land and then take
off again within minutes showed what could be possible. The
Admiralty agreed and the Bancroft was given a full conversion.
It was felt that a ship would be needed to train all of the
fliers that the Navy required, and the Bancroft was to be it.
Two new carriers were laid down and the ex-battleship Amundsen
was converted.
The Bancroft had no space provided, to hangar its own aircraft,
in the above iteration. The six months of trials were successful
and the Bancroft was taken in hand for a full conversion. This
took three years and on completion and during acceptance trials
it was decided the ship required bulges for stability and an
added bonus of torpedo and mine damage protection. The Bancroft
was finally accepted for service in 1924.
.PNG)
The Bancroft completed with four 4" low angle guns and four 2
pounder pom poms for AA work. Being the training carrier the
Bancroft usually only had an air group of six to eight aircraft
aboard. The ship was due to be paid off and scrapped in 1938,
but with the Superpower tensions going on, the ship had a five
year reprieve, and soldiered on training the Fleets pilots.
| Displacement | 17,800 tons standard, 20,150 tons full load | |
| Length | 495 ft (510 over flight deck) | |
| Breadth | 82 ft (94 over flight deck) | |
| Draught | 26 ft | |
| Machinery | 2 shaft, steam turbines, 30,000shp | |
| Speed | 22 knots | |
| Range | 7000 miles at 10 knots | |
| Armour | 4" side, 2" deck | |
| Armament | As completed 4 x 14" (2x2) 12 x 9.5" (6x2) 2 x 3" AA (2x1) added 1916 4 x 2pd AA (4x1) added 1917 |
As CV 4 x 4" (4x1) 4 x 2pd AA (4x1) |
| nil | 16-18 depending on size and type | |
| Torpedoes | 1 x 18" submerged in the bow (up to four reloads) (CV removed) | |
| Complement | 870-895 as Flagship | |
| Notes | Commodore Peary - converted to ADV 1927-29 Commodore Bellinghausen - mined 1916 Commodore Plaisted - mined 1916 Commodore Bancroft - converted to CV |
|
The Flycatcher was an early fighter type used on various
aircraft carriers 1925-32.
