Capital ships would need more speed to operate with carriers, and navies would have to learn how aircraft could attack maneuvering ships at sea. Concentrated anchorages such as Scapa Flow, Pearl Harbor, Gibraltar, and Taranto would demand stronger air defence. A celebrated naval strike also gives the Royal Navy a powerful case against merging its air arm into a separate RAF. If the war ends before April 1918, the institutional impetus for forming the RAF may disappear entirely.
Chapter · 1:53:55-1:56:54
Carrier success transforms fleets, bases, and air-service politics
A successful 1916-17 carrier strike could start a carrier race, accelerate fast task groups, harden major bases, and preserve an independent Royal Naval Air Service.