Sending Glorious with only two destroyers gave her less protection than a carrier often received in peacetime and contradicted expected wartime practice. A normal operational force could include a fast capital ship, cruiser, and destroyer flotilla. Even while rearming a strike, doctrine required at least one aircraft aloft for warning and overwatch, making the absence of an airborne patrol a central failure. Claims of a secret minelaying mission remain difficult to reconcile with an exposed state that fits peacetime habits and negligence better than normal planning for a special operation.
Notable Point · 40:32-44:02
Glorious, escorts, and missing air patrols
Glorious's loss is framed as a breakdown in wartime escort and air-patrol practice rather than evidence of normal carrier doctrine.