The expression 'necessity is the mother of invention' can hardly ever have been more appropriate than in the case of the CAM and MAC aircraft carriers of WW2. By 1940 Great Britain was desperately reliant on the convoys carrying food and supplies across the Atlantic from America, but these were extremely vulnerable to U- boat attack and the merchant navy losses were horrendous. The so called Battle of the Atlantic had started in late 1939, but by the following year was at its height. In 1940 alone 511 merchant ships were sunk by enemy action in the North Atlantic, with 5,622 crew lost.
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