Carrier design follows theater and strike doctrine

A British allowance of 310,000 tons could support almost twelve carriers of roughly 25,800 tons each. The proposed ship resembles the Implacable class and combines the capacity and armour sought in Admiral Henderson's earlier carrier plans. Ark Royal and the Illustrious class illustrate different compromises made when that ambition met tighter limits. In the counterfactual, Britain is expected to favour somewhat smaller armoured carriers with reduced air groups for repeated operations under land-based air threat. The North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, followed by an approach to Japan through the South China Sea and East China Sea, create different risks from a central Pacific advance. Open Pacific operations give American and Japanese fleets more room to move beyond land-based air range and favour large air groups for concentrated strikes. Midway and Operation Pedestal illustrate the contrast between a major carrier battle and a prolonged fight under repeated attack. Those battles are hindsight comparisons for interwar expectations, and the discussion recognises that wartime requirements changed as forces grew. Geography and expected sortie patterns therefore help explain why equal treaty ratios could produce different carrier designs.