Wartime technology did not remain constant from beginning to end. Cultural memory privileges dramatic carrier actions and the dominance aircraft achieved by 1945, then often projects that outcome backward. Aircraft available in 1939 were not equivalent to those fielded in 1941 or later, and Britain had already spent two years at war when Japan entered the conflict. This changing baseline matters when judging what interwar admirals could reasonably expect from aviation and how quickly doctrine should have evolved.
Notable Point · 24:10-26:18
Cultural memory compresses changing air power
Later memories of dominant carrier aviation can project 1945 aircraft capabilities backward onto the very different fleets and machines of 1939.