In 1921, the Royal Navy was debating whether or not to convert two large light cruisers, HMS Glorious and HMS Courageous, from the Admiral Fisher's building project in 1914 into aircraft carriers. At the time, the carriers in service were limited in their capabilities, and the Royal Navy had a decision to make as to whether they should convert the two cruisers into carriers or not. The conversion was deemed necessary given the need for fast carriers, and the fact that the United States Navy was converting the battlecruisers Saratoga and Lexington into aircraft carriers. The conversion of Glorious and Courageous was deemed less expensive than building new carriers. The cost of conversion was about half as expensive as building a new carrier. By October of 1923, the controller gave verbal instructions to go ahead with the complete reconstruction of Glorious and Courageous, with outline sketches showing the cutting away of the main structure and armor required following the same general idea for reconstruction as Furious. The alterations to structure and fittings included the removal of structures above the forecastle deck, all bulkheads, shelter deck, conning tower, director towers, masts' main derrick, bridges, funnels, uptakes, and boiler room vents down to the main deck, all guns, and all boats. On the forecastle deck, alterations included the removal of coal winches, communication pipes, and wires and the addition of plating over boiler room vents. Armor was removed, and all holes on the various decks were filled in with plating. We will also briefly discuss their careers in this video.

Research/Further Reading:

https://www.amazon.com/British-Battleships-1919-1945-New-Revised/dp/1591140528

https://www.amazon.com/British-Cruisers-World-Wars-After/dp/1848320787

Video Information:
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