The Washington Treaty allowed carrier guns up to eight inches, leaving room for cruiser armament while preventing a true battleship-carrier combination. That allowance reflected a period when guns were still more capable than aircraft and carrier roles remained unsettled. British battlecarrier proposals during the Second World War faced a practical objection: separate aircraft carriers and capital ships already supplied the proposed capabilities. Using a Lion-class hull for a hybrid also had to compete with completing it as a battleship. New light fleet and larger carrier programs provided another reason to question what operational need the hybrid would meet.
Notable Point · 11:52-13:50
Battlecarriers had to justify combining two fleet roles
Early carrier gun allowances reflected uncertain roles, while later British hybrids faced the question of what they added to separate carriers and capital ships.