Prewar exercises made aircraft look promising for anti-submarine warfare, but they could not make a fleet carrier an economical or safe submarine hunter. Courageous was lost in that role, where limited escorts allowed a maneuvering U-boat to leave the patrol area and seek the carrier. Glorious represents a different failure because she sailed without the cruiser and destroyer screen that normal peacetime practice would have supplied. One loss exposes weak doctrine, while the other shows the cost of disregarding doctrine the Navy already had.
Notable Point · 4:31-6:03
Courageous, Glorious, and the cost of misusing carrier doctrine
Courageous and Glorious separate a flawed carrier anti-submarine concept from the danger of ignoring an established escort requirement.