The Admiral-class battlecruiser hulls provide a revealing British carrier counterfactual. Very large converted carriers would create extensive aircraft capacity at a time when the Air Ministry might not supply enough single-engine naval aircraft to fill it. The Royal Navy could respond by developing fewer but larger twin-engine aircraft to use the available deck and hangar space. That choice would then influence later aircraft requirements and the missions expected from the carrier air group. An inherited hull could therefore shape aviation development instead of merely accommodating aircraft designed elsewhere.
Notable Point · 49:18-49:55
Admiral-class carriers and twin-engine air groups
Converting the Admiral-class hulls into carriers could have encouraged larger twin-engine naval aircraft because Britain might struggle to fill their air-group capacity.