After Encounter and Jupiter became unavailable through maintenance problems, the historical screen paired the modern HMS Electra and HMS Express with the First World War-era HMS Vampire and HMS Tenedos. Indomitable would change that screen because carriers received priority for scarce modern escorts even while working up. At least one 1936 Tribal-class destroyer and another J-class destroyer would probably follow the carrier, with a second Tribal also possible. Admiral Thomas Hart might also be more willing to attach the US Navy's Destroyer Division 57 to a formation with organic fighter defense. The nearby reinforcement group included USS Alden, USS John D. Edwards, USS Whipple, and USS Edsall, with HMS Stronghold also present. Those attachments could raise the screen from four ships to roughly eleven, using escorts already associated with the carrier or nearby Allied forces.
Chapter · 16:38-20:43
Indomitable would probably bring a much larger destroyer screen
Carrier escort requirements and possible American reinforcement could expand the historical four-destroyer screen to a far stronger formation.