Essex's tall hangar and deck-edge lift offered practical advantages for aircraft handling. Its lift arrangement combined two inboard lifts with the deck-edge lift, a feature also proposed here as desirable for Implacable. The Bureau of Aeronautics called the intended large attack a deck-load strike: aircraft were assembled on deck and launched rapidly as a concentrated force. An air group could reach 100 aircraft, while the industrial plan called for as many carriers as American yards could build. Large air groups and rapid launches were intended to overwhelm the opposing carrier force. The same ships could also be adapted to other wartime roles.
Chapter · 50:27-52:36
Essex class mass production and deck-load strike
A tall hangar, deck-edge lift, and air group of up to 100 aircraft supported the American deck-load strike.