Carrier fighters and the defense of Force Z

A carrier's combat air patrol would not need to destroy every attacker; breaking formations and coordinating land-based fighters could prevent the concentrated torpedo attack that sank Force Z.

Question

Would a carrier with Force Z merely have had its combat air patrol overwhelmed?

Short answer

Probably not; a standing patrol, radar direction, and land-based reinforcements could break up attacks even without shooting down every aircraft.

Notes

A carrier such as Indomitable could sustain six to eight fighters airborne or at alert from a complement of roughly 24 to 30. Radar and fighter direction would send those aircraft toward incoming groups before the attackers reached the ships. The standing patrol only needs to disrupt formation and timing while land-based fighters arrive as reinforcements. That active defense network would replace Force Z's damaging radio silence and make a concentrated torpedo attack much harder to organize.