Wartime merchant-hull carriers would draw on peacetime scout-carrier lessons instead of beginning from an emergency minimum. Their relationship to scout carriers is compared with that between a Flower-class corvette and a purpose-built sloop: the emergency ship is simplified, but its mission and useful dimensions are already understood. Mixed air groups of torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance aircraft and fighters would support convoy escorts, search for surfaced submarines, and provide a flexible response to surface threats. Earlier construction and slightly larger hulls could narrow the Atlantic air gap before historical escort-carrier numbers became available.
Chapter · 1:29:53-1:33:25
Escort carriers and the Atlantic air gap
A scout-carrier tradition could produce larger British escort carriers early, giving convoys aircraft for U-boat searches, fighter cover, and a smaller Atlantic air gap.