More sloops on convoy duty would have reduced pressure on existing destroyer flotillas while expanded yards produced additional destroyers. Force Z might then have received a stronger destroyer screen even without an aircraft carrier. Glorious, Courageous, and Ark Royal are also named as carriers whose survival chances might have improved with more escorts. This remains a counterfactual, but it links investment in modest ships to the availability and survival of scarce capital units.
Notable Point · 20:54-22:42
Escort capacity, Force Z, and carrier survival
A larger pool of sloops could have relieved destroyers from convoy work, leaving stronger screens for Force Z and the carriers Glorious, Courageous, and Ark Royal.