Battle carriers were intended to stay close enough to the fleet to sustain fighter cover and offensive pressure, making protection and damage resistance important. Strike carriers would stay farther away and keep moving, so finding the battle fleet would not necessarily reveal its other striking force. Cruiser carriers would support cruisers in trade warfare. These roles served a navy expecting to operate across several theatres with different tasks for its dispersed forces.
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Why Britain planned several kinds of carrier
Battle, strike, and cruiser carriers had different jobs within a Royal Navy plan for global war.