Land aircraft might reach a fleet, but they could not remain continuously present, refuel and rearm beside it, or return quickly after repairs. A machine with a minor defect could land on a carrier, be serviced within the task force, and return to action far sooner than one forced to fly back to a distant shore base. This difference became decisive as aviation capability accelerated in the late 1930s and during the Second World War. A carrier combined reconnaissance, strike, and air defense into an on-call force multiplier, helping the Royal Navy offset periods of Italian capital-ship superiority in the Mediterranean. Its advantage came from coordinating those air functions beside the fleet when they were needed.
Chapter · 49:13-54:14
Aviation's rapid improvement changes the Mediterranean balance
Seaplane bases remained rational for limited Mediterranean ambitions until late-1930s aviation made carrier-based coordination and rapid rearming far more decisive.