On this day 24 May 1939

On this day 24 May 1939 Full control of the Fleet Air Arm was restored to the Admiralty

With war only three months away, full control of the training, organisation and equipping of the Fleet Air Arm, which had been in RAF hands since 1918, was restored to the Admiralty. The transfer had been recommended by Sir Thomas Inskip in 1937. The RAF immediately demanded the return of all aircrew.

First Flag Officer Home Air Command is RA Bell Davies VC CB DSO AFC. 

From The War at Sea 1939 -45 by S W Roskill

During the years when responsibility for the Fleet Air Arm was divided between the Admiralty and the Air Ministry there was one branch of naval aviation in which steady progress was made and that was in the design and construction of aircraft carriers. Here there was no division of responsibility, the experiences of the 1914-18 war could be carried on into the ensuing period of peace and continued experiment and development were possible. The table below gives particulars of the ships of that class which were in service on, or shortly after, the outbreak of war and of the aircraft embarked in them at that time.

Royal Navy--Aircraft Carriers in Service, 1939

Notes on aircraft

In addition to the completed ships tabulated above six new fleet carriers of the Illustrious and Implacable classes were authorised in the naval programmes for 1936 to 1939. That such a substantial proportion of the available funds was devoted to building new aircraft carriers should dispel any idea that the Navy was in doubt regarding the contribution of shipborne aircraft to maritime control.