Carrier survivability and Singapore's repair role

British carrier design considered the Mediterranean and North Sea, but the most demanding case was a war against Japan far from home industry. Planners also watched competing Japanese political and service factions, judging some easier to work with while treating the louder expansionist tendency as a growing danger. Even Ark Royal used a steel flight deck as a strength deck so that damage could be contained and repaired as far forward as possible. Singapore was intended as a theatre-entry industrial hub for maintenance, triage, and major repair, with ships sent onward to Australia, India, or Britain when necessary. Carrier protection was therefore tied directly to distance, repair capacity, and the geography of imperial bases.