Enemy scouts find a fleet with too little fighter reserve

Of the thirteen Fulmars available at the start, only six remained after the failed strike launches, leaving no meaningful reserve. Those fighters and their controllers worked through a confused air picture containing returning British aircraft, Ju 88 scouts, SM.79s, and incoming attack groups. Experienced pilots and fighter-control operators still extracted real defensive value from worn Fulmars amid friendly returns and several kinds of hostile contact. They disrupted some scouts and early attacks, but they could not prevent the fleet's position from being passed to the attackers. When several Stuka waves arrived from different directions, Formidable could raise only two fighters at a time because the rest were refuelling, rearming, or being repaired.