Fleet Air Arm growth required a global shore network

Would a history of Fleet Air Arm shore bases reveal something important about the wartime Royal Navy?

Yes. The Fleet Air Arm's wartime expansion and the navy's global deployment required an extensive worldwide network of air stations, ports, and support infrastructure.

The Royal Navy expanded much more in the Second World War than in the First partly because naval aviation and the Royal Marines grew dramatically. The fleet was also dispersed across the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific rather than concentrated mainly in northern European waters. Aircraft, personnel, escorts, and distant fleets all required bases, ports, and support facilities around the world. The exchange connects carrier strength to the less visible shore network that made global naval operations possible.