The plan for Force Z depended on carriers that were unavailable when Japan entered the war. Indomitable could only have joined by avoiding her grounding and abandoning her work-up, while Pound's larger force belonged to early 1942 rather than December 1941. Courageous, Glorious, and Ark Royal had already been lost, while Illustrious and Formidable had suffered damage. Carrier cover existed on paper, but wartime losses and competing commitments left the Royal Navy without enough flight decks.
Chapter · 0:19-2:18
Force Z and the carrier availability problem
The opening explains why carrier cover for Force Z was planned in theory but difficult to provide in December 1941.