Fleet Air Arm control returns amid procurement damage

The Inskip review exposed an Air Ministry plan to use fleet carriers first as aircraft transports to the Far East and only later return them for their naval air groups, without having coordinated the plan with the Admiralty. The Sea Gladiator had to bridge a fighter gap while authority shifted from the Air Ministry to naval control. Competing service demands restricted engines and disrupted planned replacements, while the Skua succeeded as an accurate dive bomber but lacked fighter performance. The turret-armed Roc demonstrated how an Air Ministry concept could become operationally unsuitable at sea. A proposed single-seat naval fighter, apparently from Supermarine, was also lost when priority shifted to Spitfire production, leaving the inherited gap harder to close.