Aircraft carriers place exceptional weight high in the hull, making stability a design problem even before combat damage. Using the flight deck as a strength deck can improve structural capacity, but it also changes how weight and landing loads are carried. Designers compensate with dense machinery and low ballast while trying to preserve useful hangar and flight-deck capacity. Franklin's heavy heel during firefighting shows that these tradeoffs were not confined to British armoured carriers. Damage control had to work within these conflicting construction demands.
Notable Point · 7:32-9:10
Carrier strength decks and stability tradeoffs
Why flight-deck strength, high topside weight, machinery, and ballast all complicate carrier stability and damage control.