The carrier's useful mission lies in the North Sea and North Atlantic because Germany should normally be able to rely on land-based aircraft in the Baltic. Routine deck parking is unsuitable in those northern waters. Royal Navy experience in the interwar period showed how quickly exposed aircraft could be lost or damaged there. A paper air group that counts machines parked on deck therefore overstates what the ship can sustain in ordinary operations. The difference between theoretical and hangar-stowed complements makes roughly 40-45 protected aircraft more meaningful than a larger nominal figure. Mission geography and hangar capacity govern the German design as much as flight-deck length.
Notable Point · 10:48-13:18
Atlantic weather makes hangar stowage decisive
A German carrier intended for the North Sea and North Atlantic must size its useful air group by protected hangar space because routine deck parking would sacrifice aircraft to the weather.