Who wins if all Fletcher-class destroyers fight the Illustrious-class carriers and HMS Unicorn?
Short answerThe Fletchers win a close engagement, while the carriers are favoured when they begin far enough away to use their air groups.
NotesThe scenario turns on starting distance, visibility and the destroyers' radar fit. Within roughly ten miles, the massed Fletchers can bring overwhelming surface fire and torpedoes to bear before the carriers exploit their aircraft. At longer distances the British ships can launch a substantial air strike that forces the destroyers to fight defensively. Around a hundred miles the carriers have the clearer advantage; inside that range, the growing number of Fletchers makes the result increasingly dangerous for them.