The Dedalo (a bit more added 07/08/23)

 Spanish seaplane tender Dedalo

The Dedalo hydroplane carrier with three Felixtowe F. 3A in the Port of Cartagena in 1920.

Built by Swan-Hunter, Newcastle and launched on April 19th 1901, then owned and operated by Deutsche Dampfs Ges "Hansa" out of Bremen. She was interned in Spain in 1914 early in WW1 and then later in October 1918 she was seized by Spain along with five other interned German vessels as reparations for Spanish losses during Germany`s unrestricted U-boat campaign during WW1. She gained the new temporary name "Espana No6"  

In 1921 with the war in Morocco becoming more and more serious the Spanish Navy aquired her, its naval air arm had been interested in a seaplane tender for some time and Espana No6 was just size of vessel they were looking for. She was renamed Dedalo (Spanish for Daedalus) and spent five months in Barcelona being converted at the cost of 8-million Pesetas. It had a frankly ugly silhouette, with a rare "anti-spark" funnel. She displaced almost 10,000 tons and had a 60-meter-long flight deck aft of the bridge with an elevator to lower the hydros to the hangar. The forward part was intended for ballooning, with a mooring pole for a small semi-rigid airship and shelter for another inside the forward hold. She also had, on the port bow, moorings for two captive balloons. Aft, on the aforementioned flight deck, they could stow, lashed to the deck against strong winds and high seas, up to a dozen seaplanes - Macchi-18s and Savoia S-16s plus some Supermarine Scarabs and inside the hangar, with the wings folded, there was space for another twelve or thirteen aircraft of the same types. The total capacity  of the DEDALO was twenty-five seaplanes, two airships (of Italian design) and two captive balloons.

Based in Cartagena, Dédalo participated in the Rif War, her seaplanes and armed airships used to attack Riffi positions in support of ground operations; the two tethered balloons were used as observation platforms for artillery and also communications. She even was used as offshore naval support using her 105mm deck guns. Under the command of Wenceslao Benitez Inglott, took part in the largest, most successful amphibious landing before WW2 - Alchuemas Bay on September 8th 1925.

Savoia S-16

Supermarine Scarab

Macchi M-18

Felixtowe F. 3A

After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931 she joined the Spanish Republican Navy. 

In 1934 she was selected to test a revolutionary new rotary winged aircraft invented by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva the autogyro.  

It was in Valencia , March 7, 1934, where de la Cierva carried out landing tests with his brand new C-30 registered G-ACIO. The aircraft landed on the Dedalo with precision, within the marked area, and half an hour later took off again after a short takeoff run (24m). 

Even though the experiment was a complete success and many ships already in service would be easily convertable to recieve autogyros the Spanish Navy did not pursue this inovative technology.

Dedalo was decommisioned from service in 1934, she was bombed by rebel aircraft at Cartagena in April 1936 which left her abandoned there until March 1940 when she was towed to Valencia to be scrapped.