Ark Royal's loss, deferred refit work, and counterflooding

Ark Royal's heavy workload left her without refit time that additional carriers could have provided. Her loss also involved a damage-control problem: the carrier procedure described here called for immediate counterflooding because the ship was top-heavy. Personnel instead followed the practice of waiting until flooding became necessary. This explanation links that response to the loss of specialist carrier experience and treats the torpedo hit as part of a wider failure. Continued carrier construction could have relieved the pressure on Ark Royal even after Courageous and Glorious were lost.