I was impressed with the Carrier we never built
BBC News - The aircraft carrier that never was
I do like the comments on the RAF redrawing the world to show how they could project Airpower, and the final words from the designer... Some things never change.
To this day, the battle over CVA-01 still scars many who served in the navy. And many navy veterans still believe the RAF cheated in making its arguments in the 1960s that its land-based aircraft could do the job of the carriers, by producing maps that showed Singapore 400 miles closer to Australia than it really is.
I interviewed the last chief designer of CVA-01, Louis Rydill, just before he died, and he confirmed that he had said that the day the project was cancelled was the happiest of his life. However, that was not because he did not believe in the carrier case. It was because he felt that he had been forced to make so many compromises, and introduce so many risky design elements, because of size and budget restrictions, that the whole project had become a nightmare.