Unfortunately RINA doesn't have a digitised archive (or, anecdotally, even a paper archive) of Transactions prior to 2003.

Which is a shame, as there are all sorts of interesting things in Transactions.
What is this weird affliction that seems to have grown over the last 10-15 years to dump paper archives in libraries and collections?
Too often I've heard "oh journals are online nowadays" when no-one has bothered to check whether anyone has ever actually gone through the original bound editions and scanned them. I shudder at how much knowledge has been lost and denied to future researchers from pre-2000 journals.
(which is why the loss of the Flight archive is all the more galling since they have been digitised and still lost to posterity.)

I once came across a couple of bound copies of Transactions in a second-hand bookshop, but I suppose that is a rare find.
 
The more one looks at the details, the more obviously this is primarily a liner with aviation facilities added, and not a naval ship with passenger cabins added. Given the extent to which the British government endeavoured to comply with the letter and spirit of the Washington Naval Treaty, I think it's massively improbable that this is some sort of attempt to make an end-run around restrictions.

I think, that it was envisioned mainly as liner, of course (since it was supposed to operate economically in peacetime) but with mobilization purposes at least in mind. With all respect, but as was pointed above - pre-WW1 passenger liners were initially designed with anticipation that they may be mobilized and used as fast raiders/auxiliary cruisers. This project fit perfectly in the same role.
 
How did I miss that thread ? some mind-blowing stuff there. Pretty clever attempt at civilian aircraft carriers "hey, because air mail !"
 
The more one looks at the details, the more obviously this is primarily a liner with aviation facilities added, and not a naval ship with passenger cabins added. Given the extent to which the British government endeavoured to comply with the letter and spirit of the Washington Naval Treaty, I think it's massively improbable that this is some sort of attempt to make an end-run around restrictions.

I'm entirely in the camp that this is d'Eyncourt trying to show off his thoughts around applying the latest technology (aircraft) to a significant type of ship (mail steamers) in advance of his move back into commercial work. If someone has access to the issue of Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects, his paper would probably explain the context - comparable papers usually do. Unfortunately RINA doesn't have a digitised archive (or, anecdotally, even a paper archive) of Transactions prior to 2003.

Which is a shame, as there are all sorts of interesting things in Transactions.
That is just offensive.
 

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