Alternate history can test why the historical route developed by comparing it with plausible alternatives. Early carrier groups and their weapons contained enough weaknesses that a different combat result could have produced a different doctrinal story. The Mark 13 torpedo separates an aircraft's reputation from failures in weapon procurement and testing. Blaming the platform can conceal the institutional decision that supplied it with unreliable ordnance. A different early result could have supported a different doctrine, especially while carrier aircraft still carried unreliable weapons.
Notable Point · 17:15-18:18
Counterfactuals expose procurement dependencies
Changing one engagement or one unreliable weapon helps reveal how operational evidence, procurement choices, and later doctrine depended on contingent results.