Would carrier fighters have saved Force Z?

Would a carrier's fighters have materially helped Force Z against the Japanese air attack?

Yes. In this counterfactual assessment, carrier fighters would break up the unescorted attack and save Force Z from that strike, without guaranteeing its later survival.

The Japanese aircraft that attacked Force Z had no fighter escort and had spent fuel searching near the edge of their range. Carrier fighters could have broken up their formations before the torpedo and bombing runs converged. Sea Hurricanes and Wildcats, supported by fighter-direction experience gained in the Mediterranean, are the proposed defensive aircraft. In this counterfactual assessment, that disruption would have saved Force Z from the immediate strike, although it would not make the ships invulnerable to later attacks. Their survival would then create different possibilities for Allied concentration in Southeast Asia.