Falklands carriers kept clear of San Carlos

Would Belgrano or an Argentine submarine reaching San Carlos Bay have caused disaster, and why were the British carriers not there?

The British carriers were never meant to enter San Carlos Bay. They stayed at sea to provide fighter cover while the amphibious force and shipping handled the bay, and bringing carriers into that confined water would have been operationally absurd.

The carrier group did not need to sit with the amphibious force in San Carlos Bay, because its job was to remain at sea, keep moving, and provide fighter cover from distance. The point also involves anti-submarine conditions, merchant-ship movement, and earlier lessons about the danger of trapping carriers in confined operating boxes.