The MOD website states that on this date in 1912 Lieutenant Samson launched a Shorts Seaplane from the bows of the battleship HMS
Africa. This was the first launch of an aircraft from and RN ship. Over the next few years naval aviation would continue to develop. The need to launch multiple aircraft to deal with Zeppelins would lead to experiments with major ships losing first the forward guns to provide a deck space for aircraft to take off and land, then the aft guns went as well to provide as dedicated landing space, then most of the superstructure to provide a flush deck. Thus the carrier was born! For air defence.......
The need to defend the fleet from air attack has been repeatedly forgotten or ignored ever since.
