Carrier doctrine reshapes more than the carrier itself. The US Navy realizes that its fast reconnaissance and scout cruisers, including ships armed with 8-inch guns, are not necessarily the escorts needed to defend a carrier group. Destroyer requirements change for the same reason. A carrier's strategic mobility only matters if screening ships can keep pace and protect the formation across its operating range. American officers study British exercises in which Courageous and Glorious work with Hood, Renown, and Repulse, and some see the canceled Lexington-class battlecruisers as a lost solution to the fast-escort problem. Carrier doctrine therefore spreads into the composition and procurement of the whole task force.
Notable Point · 1:09:57-1:11:14
Carrier mobility demands new cruisers and destroyers
Interwar carrier task forces reveal that reconnaissance cruisers and existing destroyers are poorly matched to escorting fast, mobile aviation formations.