Are there historical naval battles with a modern-carrier-versus-old-war level of technological disparity?
Short answerRoyal Navy counter-piracy operations in the 1920s South China Sea brought carrier aircraft against some pirate junks armed with swords and bows and arrows.
NotesRoyal Navy aircraft operating over the South China Sea in the 1920s could confront pirate junks whose crews carried swords and bows and arrows, sometimes without firearms. Hermes is the clearest carrier identified in the recollection, while the identification of Eagle or Argus is uncertain. Aircraft could be sent toward a merchant ship after a distress flare and attack the pirates attempting to board it. Machine guns and occasional bombs gave the aircraft a striking advantage over crews equipped for boarding.