Bomber advocates and control of naval aviation

Was the interwar U.S. bomber faction a blessing in disguise?

Bomber factions existed across major powers; the important difference was that the U.S. Navy kept control of naval aviation while Beatty trusted the RAF to support the fleet.

Strategic-bombing advocates existed across the major powers during the interwar period. In the United States, internal Army politics helped delay a separate air force, and naval aviation remained under Navy control. The British comparison centres on Beatty's confidence that his political influence would secure whatever aircraft support the fleet required from the RAF. In this interpretation, insisting that carrier aircraft remain naval would have produced a different institutional arrangement. The argument concerns authority over naval aviation rather than treating bomber advocacy itself as a uniquely American development.