Why distant operations favored armoured carriers

A carrier damaged on the far side of the world might have to remain useful with only forward repair facilities. British planners therefore valued a ship that was less likely to require a long return to the home industrial base after taking damage. Armour reduced the space available for aircraft, but it could preserve an aviation capability at the point where the fleet needed it. The relevant comparison was not simply a large air group against a small one. It was sometimes a smaller surviving air group against no aircraft while a more vulnerable carrier underwent distant repairs.