What if carrier construction had continued without the pause?

The closing counterfactual assumes that Henderson secured approval in 1938 and that carrier construction continued even if battleship work paused. On an Illustrious-like schedule, four earlier armored carriers would enter service during 1940 and both Implacables during 1941, with HMS Unicorn following around the same time. The extra ships could support convoy protection, fleet strikes, and anti-submarine warfare while reducing the need to stretch each carrier across several theaters. This remains a counterfactual rather than a claim that any one deployment would certainly have changed the war. It directs attention to the strategic cost of construction timing and the smaller carrier force Britain actually took into combat.