The Royal Navy entered September 1939 with seven carriers available and five or six fleet carriers ordered or building, evidence that aviation held a substantial place in its programme. Those orders were placed while Britain still hoped that some version of the treaty system could be restored, so later comparisons with the Essex programme need to account for timing as well as totals. War arrived during an awkward transfer of the Fleet Air Arm from Air Ministry to Admiralty control and between aircraft generations. By 1941 the projected force would probably have included Barracudas, possible navalised Spitfires, and a fighter resembling the Fulmar alongside newer carriers. This continuing transition separates genuine 1939 limitations from the broader claim that the service did not value naval aviation.
Chapter · 43:32-1:00:55
Carrier exercises and the Fleet Air Arm transition
Carrier exercises, air-defence doctrine, aircraft development, and multi-carrier operations complicate claims that the Royal Navy ignored naval aviation.