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Description
Designation: Flugzeugdampfer I
Name: SMS Ausonia
Displacement: 12,585 metric tons
Length: 158 meters/518 feet
Beam: 16.8 meters/62 feet
Draft: 7.42 meters/24.4 feet
Propulsion: 2-shaft Blohm und Voss geared turbines
14,000 shp
1,500 tons of coal
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: x10 Friedrichshafen FF 41AT torpedo bomber floatplanes
x4 Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 floatplanes
x4 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 floatplanes
x4 Fokker D. VII/Fokker D.VIII wheeled scouts
x6 Junkers J.I dive bombers
Crew: 400 total

Background: This vessel started out as a passenger liner ordered by the Papal States which was constructed by the shipyards of Blohm & Voss in 1914. However, the outbreak of war caused the ship to be launched prematurely, in 1915, in order to clear room for additional ships to be built by the Kaiserliche Marine. At that time, the Empire had only a handful of seaplane tenders and most of them, most notably SMS Stuttgart, had been converted from already-existing ships. The Germans had knowledge that the British were increasing their own seaplane fleet and were looking to build more airplane tenders of their own in response. One saur, Leutnant zur See Jürgen Reimpell, had a radical idea: convert the hull of the Ausonia into a full-on aircraft carrier. After some consideration, the German High Command gave the greenlight to move forward with Reimpall's idea whilst they also looked into converting other ships, older warships or vessels still under construction, into full-on aircraft carriers. Three years later, the SMS Ausonia was launched on March 28, 1918 and was quickly pressed into service, being designated combat ready by April 15. By this point, the British Grand Fleet had endured several major setbacks: Jellicose's defeat at Jutland, the twin battles against the American and Texian fleets at the Azores and the Florida Keys (1916 and 1917, respectively), the harassment of British merchant ships by Central Powers submarines, and the continued escapades of American, Texian, Oregonian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Venetian, Papal, and Sicilian commerce raiders had taken their toll on the proud British Royal Navy. The British commanders were extremely reluctant to sally forth to take on the fleets of their opponents in significant numbers, only in smaller increments to prevent the Germans from bombarding towns along the eastern coast of Britain and to reinforce the weakening blockade against Germany and the Netherlands, which was constantly harassed by German, Dutch, and American ships.

Amidst this, the Ausonia sallied forth from Kiel to launch attacks on Danish airbases and seaside fortifications before heading further north into the North Sea in order conduct operations against Britain. Escorted by a small number of cruisers, battlecruisers, and destroyers, the carrier conducted attacks on British airbases located near the northeast coast and even assaulted several British cruisers. She remained at sea until June 20 when she sailed to Wilhelmshaven in order to resupply and replace aircraft and crew that had been lost. The carrier conducted two further sorties alongside the converted battlecruiser Hindenburg until the outbreak of truce in November as a result of the German Spring Offensive being bogged down and the following Allied offensive, although also initially successful, grinding to a halt as a result of heightened German resistance in the wake of the arrival of the American Expeditionary Forces and Swedish troops being sent south after Denmark was forced to exit the war on July 25. While the sorties had enjoyed minor successes, the experience the German navy had enjoyed in the final months of the Great War would help jumpstart the German carrier program and give the Germans adequate enough experience to further develop their carriers and carrier aircraft over the next two decades in time for the next world war to commence.

Nothing much else to say here, just a crappy drawing of an aircraft carrier that I based off a depiction of this particular ship on SB that I made because I was extremely bored and had no idea what the hell to draw next at the time.

Description
Designation: Flugzeugdampfer I
Name: SMS Ausonia
Displacement: 12,585 metric tons
Length: 158 meters/518 feet
Beam: 16.8 meters/62 feet
Draft: 7.42 meters/24.4 feet
Propulsion: 2-shaft Blohm und Voss geared turbines
14,000 shp
1,500 tons of coal
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: x10 Friedrichshafen FF 41AT torpedo bomber floatplanes
x4 Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 floatplanes
x4 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 floatplanes
x4 Fokker D. VII/Fokker D.VIII wheeled scouts
x6 Junkers J.I dive bombers
Crew: 400 total

Background: This vessel started out as a passenger liner ordered by the Papal States which was constructed by the shipyards of Blohm & Voss in 1914. However, the outbreak of war caused the ship to be launched prematurely, in 1915, in order to clear room for additional ships to be built by the Kaiserliche Marine. At that time, the Empire had only a handful of seaplane tenders and most of them, most notably SMS Stuttgart, had been converted from already-existing ships. The Germans had knowledge that the British were increasing their own seaplane fleet and were looking to build more airplane tenders of their own in response. One saur, Leutnant zur See Jürgen Reimpell, had a radical idea: convert the hull of the Ausonia into a full-on aircraft carrier. After some consideration, the German High Command gave the greenlight to move forward with Reimpall's idea whilst they also looked into converting other ships, older warships or vessels still under construction, into full-on aircraft carriers. Three years later, the SMS Ausonia was launched on March 28, 1918 and was quickly pressed into service, being designated combat ready by April 15. By this point, the British Grand Fleet had endured several major setbacks: Jellicose's defeat at Jutland, the twin battles against the American and Texian fleets at the Azores and the Florida Keys (1916 and 1917, respectively), the harassment of British merchant ships by Central Powers submarines, and the continued escapades of American, Texian, Oregonian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Venetian, Papal, and Sicilian commerce raiders had taken their toll on the proud British Royal Navy. The British commanders were extremely reluctant to sally forth to take on the fleets of their opponents in significant numbers, only in smaller increments to prevent the Germans from bombarding towns along the eastern coast of Britain and to reinforce the weakening blockade against Germany and the Netherlands, which was constantly harassed by German, Dutch, and American ships.

Amidst this, the Ausonia sallied forth from Kiel to launch attacks on Danish airbases and seaside fortifications before heading further north into the North Sea in order conduct operations against Britain. Escorted by a small number of cruisers, battlecruisers, and destroyers, the carrier conducted attacks on British airbases located near the northeast coast and even assaulted several British cruisers. She remained at sea until June 20 when she sailed to Wilhelmshaven in order to resupply and replace aircraft and crew that had been lost. The carrier conducted two further sorties alongside the converted battlecruiser Hindenburg until the outbreak of truce in November as a result of the German Spring Offensive being bogged down and the following Allied offensive, although also initially successful, grinding to a halt as a result of heightened German resistance in the wake of the arrival of the American Expeditionary Forces and Swedish troops being sent south after Denmark was forced to exit the war on July 25. While the sorties had enjoyed minor successes, the experience the German navy had enjoyed in the final months of the Great War would help jumpstart the German carrier program and give the Germans adequate enough experience to further develop their carriers and carrier aircraft over the next two decades in time for the next world war to commence.

Nothing much else to say here, just a crappy drawing of an aircraft carrier that I based off a depiction of this particular ship on SB that I made because I was extremely bored and had no idea what the hell to draw next at the time.