Carrier doctrine cannot be read backward from 1945 into 1920. In the immediate postwar period, reconnaissance, fleet air defence, and gunfire spotting were the core jobs, with only limited anti-submarine attacks against boats caught on the surface. Strike begins to enter the mission set around 1926 as aircraft and weapons mature. This changing purpose matters because a navy choosing carrier size and numbers was also choosing which evolving missions it could sustain across the fleet.
Notable Point · 1:05:56-1:07:29
How carrier missions changed from 1920 to 1926
Reconnaissance, air defence, and spotting dominated the 1920 mission set; strike became a larger design consideration only as the decade progressed.