Carrier workshops trade air-group size for sustained readiness

British carrier air-group size cannot be explained by armour weight alone. Hangars were constrained partly because the ships carried extensive engine and airframe workshops capable of rebuilding and servicing aircraft at sea. Those facilities displaced parking volume but reduced dependence on shore repair and kept a larger share of the embarked group flyable. The doctrine accepted an opponent's potentially larger opening strike in exchange for preserving serviceability on the following days. Carrier design therefore encoded a choice between maximum launch numbers and sustained operational readiness.