Would Ark Royal have been ready for deployment if the Tsingtao crisis produced war in January 1939?
Short answerAlthough only recently commissioned, Ark Royal had already conducted testing with aircraft and would probably deploy quickly alongside Glorious, ready or not.
NotesArk Royal commissioned in December 1938 after launching in April 1937, so she was still working up when the counterfactual crisis begins. Aircraft testing and squadron preparation had already been underway, leaving her in a better state than the commission date alone suggests. Ark Royal and Glorious would probably deploy rapidly even if neither had completed an ideal peacetime work-up.