Armoured-carrier stability depended on counter-flooding

Did the Illustrious-class carriers' armoured decks make them dangerously top-heavy?

Their top weight imposed real stability costs, but it protected the aviation function and was managed through the hull design and correctly judged counter-flooding.

Armoured carriers carried substantial weight high in the hull, but designers accepted it to protect the aviation function and compensated elsewhere. Indomitable's rapid eleven-degree list after a torpedo hit during Operation Husky shows how the location of damage could test that stability. Her captain counter-flooded, restored a more even trim, and brought the ship home. The example shows why metacentric height cannot be judged apart from the protected function, hull arrangement, damage location, and available corrective action.