Spotting aircraft allow a battleship to correct repeated salvos and deliver far more explosive weight than a single aircraft load. The unresolved question was whether fuel, aircraft, and handling facilities had to remain on the capital ship once a carrier air group could provide the same eyes. Treaty limits and the need to keep carriers survivable initially constrained the number of aircraft available for fleet support. As carrier capacity matured, fast battleships could cover the fighting role while carrier aircraft supplied the very-high-speed scouting and reach once associated with battlecruisers. North Sea weather imposed a practical limit on deck parking: one 1920s incident made the sea the Fleet Air Arm's largest source of aircraft losses.
Notable Point · 1:49:20-1:53:59
Aircraft spotting and the declining battlecruiser role
Aircraft could extend a battleship's gunnery reach, while carrier aviation increasingly supplied the high-speed scouting role once assigned to battlecruisers.
Aircraft CarriersAircraft HandlingAviation FuelBattlecruisersCarrier Air GroupsDeck ParkingFast BattleshipsFleet Air ArmFleet ScoutingGunnery SpottingHMS VanguardIndian OceanKing George V Class Battleships (1939)Naval Arms LimitationNaval AviationNaval GunneryNaval ReconnaissanceNorth SeaRadarSouth AtlanticStrategic Mobility