Exercise MZ tested air attack in a balanced fleet problem

MZ pitted the Mediterranean and Atlantic Fleets against one another, with ships representing additional battleships and battlecruisers that were not physically present. The stronger red force may approximate a likely Royal Navy task group, while the blue force may represent a Japanese opponent, although British battlecruisers stood in for foreign fast heavy ships. Both sides fielded carriers, submarines, reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, and torpedo bombers. Ten aircraft from Courageous were assessed to hit Nelson twice and Rodney once, reducing the squadron to eleven knots. Because the March exercise used an early copy of the rules published in April, it also acted as a practical test of the damage model before final issue.