Civilian infrastructure is part of naval readiness

The Carrington Event scenario broadens EMP from an electronics problem aboard warships into a test of the whole support system behind them. Emergency generators cannot replace a national grid indefinitely, especially when specialised transformers have slow and concentrated production. A carrier still needs fuel for aircraft and escorts, working pumps and trucks, communications to assemble crews, and powered dockyard machinery for repair. Preserved steam locomotives illustrate how older mechanical transport might regain strategic value when modern electronic systems fail. Platform hardening alone cannot create readiness when the civilian logistics network that sustains the fleet has collapsed.