How US and British dream carriers would still differ

The closing design counterfactual asks what unrestricted carriers for the US Navy and Royal Navy might have looked like, using Yorktown, Midway, Ark Royal, and the Illustrious class as reference points. Both navies would likely move toward larger, faster ships with armoured decks and bigger air groups once treaty constraints disappeared. Their geostrategic needs would still produce different priorities. A British carrier would emphasize sustained cycles of air operations while retaining an alpha-strike capability. An American carrier would privilege the large alpha strike while keeping sustained operations as a secondary strength. Similar technology could therefore yield distinct ships when two navies ranked their missions differently.