Carrier survivability reflects production scale

Had planners forgotten how difficult American carriers were to sink?

American carriers had effective damage control, while their balance of protection, air-group size, speed, and ease of construction reflected a fleet built in much larger numbers.

Carrier survivability cannot be ranked apart from production scale. A navy building only two carriers has strong reason to make each as difficult to sink as possible, while a navy building two dozen can accept different tradeoffs. American designers still valued protection and damage control, but they could also prioritize larger air groups, speed, and construction efficiency because one loss would not remove half the fleet. Fleet size and replacement capacity shaped survivability choices as much as armor did.