Could stronger advocacy have brought escort carriers sooner?

Could stronger naval aviation leadership have secured escort carriers earlier and freed fleet carriers for other work?

Alex thinks stronger advocacy could have accelerated conversions; Jamie stresses that merchant-hull losses and shortages of aircraft, pilots, and workers made them difficult to spare.

Alex wonders whether Henderson's survival or an earlier handover to an experienced successor could have kept carrier construction moving and brought escort conversions forward. Jamie stresses that Atlantic merchant losses exceeded replacement building, making a hull diverted from cargo carrying a costly choice. The captured German ship converted into Audacity offered an unusual opportunity. A tanker carrying aircraft while retaining some fuel capacity is Alex's proposed compromise. He argues that reducing shipping losses deserved attention alongside building replacement hulls, but the debate leaves the practical shortages of workers, aircrew, and aircraft unresolved.