Audacity carried six Martlets permanently on deck because she had no hangar. Her flight deck measured about 128 by 18 meters, and the foremost parked aircraft had only about 91 meters available for takeoff. A maximum speed of 14.5 knots left little margin for flying operations. Landings relied on two arresting wires and a barrier. An accident that disabled one fighter removed one-sixth of the convoy's operational air cover.
Notable Point · 3:34:31-3:35:10
Audacity's six Martlets and the cost of a landing accident
Audacity's small deck and six-aircraft complement made each landing accident a substantial loss of convoy air cover.