Carrier range made the ship valuable in fleet battle, economic warfare, and sea-area control. Force H embodied the emerging combination: a fast gun capital ship, a large strike carrier, a Town-class cruiser, and destroyers. In that role the carrier began displacing older battlecruisers as the primary means of finding and striking threats across a wide area. Carrier power depended on a balanced rapid-reaction group rather than on the flight deck alone.
Chapter · 5:28-7:05
The carrier as an economic-warfare capital ship
Force H shows how a carrier, fast capital ship, cruiser, and escorts formed a rapid-reaction force for controlling economically important sea areas.