Carriers as enablers alongside the battle fleet

Britain needed carriers as enabling assets alongside the battle fleet. They supplied organic air support when task groups operated beyond land-based aircraft, especially in the Mediterranean and Far East. The same ships also served commerce protection, commerce interdiction, and wide-area anti-submarine hunts, while much of the existing carrier force was old and too small for all these commitments. Courageous's loss while hunting submarines made the shortage immediate and showed why smaller aviation ships were needed for that work.