Fleet Air Arm institutions shape Hermes's small air group

The comparison of roughly thirty-six aircraft in Langley, fifteen in Hōshō, and twenty in Hermes shows that capacity reflected doctrine as well as hull size. Langley's usual split of eighteen torpedo bombers and eighteen fighters supports both a combat air patrol and a strike force. Hermes operates within a more complicated institution: the Fleet Air Arm sits inside the Royal Air Force and under Air Ministry administration even though the Admiralty pays for it and exercises operational control. The Air Ministry's downgrading of naval squadrons to smaller flights means a twenty-aircraft carrier amounts to about three six-aircraft flights with only a small margin. Fairey Flycatchers provide air defence and oppose enemy scouting, while the ship's main emphasis remains reconnaissance and presence.