The American battlecruiser hulls created enormous, prestigious carriers, while Courageous, Glorious, and Furious were smaller conversions chosen in part because the Royal Navy valued numbers. Lexington and Saratoga delivered exceptional capacity but concentrated a large share of the American carrier allowance in two hulls. Interwar shipbuilding could not enlarge an existing warship hull without major risk and expense, so navies had to accept the dimensions of the ships selected for conversion. Britain needed decks across an empire and therefore placed greater value on hull numbers. Treaty limits turned carrier development into a choice between a few highly capable ships and wider geographic availability.
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Battlecruiser conversions concentrate treaty tonnage
Lexington-sized conversions produce exceptional carriers but consume tonnage that Britain preferred to distribute across more hulls.