Australia's First Aircraft Carrier??

[Old Wombat]

I'm in a space where the left hemisphere of my brain, the right hemisphere of my brain & my wallet are in a constant state of turmoil & conflict.

The latest is:

I have a Trumpeter 1/350 1918-era HMS Dreadnought headed my way in the mail (should be here Thursday). The plan is to build her as a What If "Australia's first major warship" (HMAS Australia) but, already, before she's even in my hands, some deep, dark place in my brain has spoken up with "Well, if she's going to be a Whif, why not go all the way & convert her to a post-WW1 aircraft carrier?"

I'm figuring the young Commonwealth decides to upgrade its navy immediately & buys a Dreadnought-class off the plans in 1905 (commissioned 1909), then decides to upgrade the Australia Squadron with an Indefatigable-class in 1909 (commissioned 1913).

I'm thinking the ships would be HMAS Australia & HMAS Imperial in that order, with a modified Hood-class HMAS Canberra joining their ranks post-WW1, being commissioned in 1922 (&, maybe, a 2nd Hood-class ship after that, to replace HMAS Imperial).

The next bit is the worrying bit:

The theory is that after serving her country well before & during WW1 the Dreadnought-class HMAS Australia is due to be de-commissioned & scrapped. The RAN is replacing her with another battle-cruiser but wants to try out an aircraft carrier (having seen benefits to them being operated by the RN during WW1). However, they don't have the money to build one outright, although they can scrape together the funds to refurbish & convert Australia. The plan to, later, convert Imperial never occurs due to the Great Depression.

The bit my wallet's protesting about is that that same dark place is suggesting that I buy a 1906-era Dreadnought to build the first incarnation of the Whif HMAS Australia!

Aircraft are, obviously, going to be the biggest issue in bringing this plan together.



Any suggestions? Apart from going to see a psychiatrist, I mean!

[PR19_Kit]

And this master plan is wrong because......................? 

[Rheged]

  Assuming that HMAS Australia was a successful conversion, she'd still be in service in WW2, possibly as a training carrier by 1944.........so you can have everything from Fairey Flycatchers, by way of Swordfish, Walrus and Seafires to Corsairs on her deck

[zenrat]

Looking forward to seeing our new/old Navy.

In the backstory for my Curtis Loon build I had an Indefatigable class HMAS Australia rebuilt into a Continent class carrier of the same name.

[Old Wombat]

And this master plan is wrong because......................? 

You're dethpickable!

  Assuming that HMAS Australia was a successful conversion, she'd still be in service in WW2, possibly as a training carrier by 1944.........so you can have everything from Fairey Flycatchers, by way of Swordfish, Walrus and Seafires to Corsairs on her deck

I'd rather do her ca. 1925, shortly after the conversion. Wonder if Shapeways has anything suitable?

Looking forward to seeing our new/old Navy.

In the backstory for my Curtis Loon build I had an Indefatigable class HMAS Australia rebuilt into a Continent class carrier of the same name.

Thanks, Fred! .... I think?

She'll retain the name Australia as a carrier, too.

At this point in time an Indefatigable-class ship is wa-ay off the table. The only available kit is a waterline resin version that costs AU$531.93 for my preferred 1/350 scale.



I have, against my wallet's better judgement, just put a 1907 Dreadnought in my shopping cart at BNA Model World.

[zenrat]

You're welcome.   

[Joe C-P]

How about a hybrid, guns forward and deck aft?

[Old Wombat]

No, Joe, this is going to be a "proper" aircraft carrier conversion.

[Captain Canada]

Spend the money. Build the boats. No problems there......