Formidable's bomb damage and rapid air-patrol recovery

Formidable took two 1,000-kilogram bomb hits during the Crete operations. She nevertheless resumed combat air patrols about fifteen minutes later while returning from the action. That recovery illustrates a carrier remaining operational after serious damage rather than escaping damage altogether. The episode also exposes how little reserve the Royal Navy possessed when a single fleet carrier and one working deck carried so much of the burden. Resilient construction mattered because there was no spare carrier waiting to replace her.