Furious demonstrated both the promise of a flight deck and the penalties of conversion around an existing superstructure. Purpose-built carriers could have used reconnaissance and bombing to clear a route into the Baltic. The historical 15-inch-gun concept instead reflected Fisher's fixation on speed and battlecruisers. Royal Naval Air Service experience already made carrier bombing a credible alternative for the mission.
Chapter · 45:01-53:31
Could Fisher's large light cruisers have become carriers?
Courageous, Glorious, and Furious could have supported their shallow-water Baltic mission more effectively as aircraft carriers than as lightly protected gunships.