Several explanations have been proposed for Glorious's return, including an early passage home and a separate operational task. None resolves the problem with her escort. Interwar carrier exercises had established a requirement for more than two destroyers and for a cruiser in the screen. Her loss therefore involved a departure from an existing standard for carrier protection. The circumstances do not establish that the Royal Navy lacked carrier doctrine or regarded naval aviation as unimportant.
Notable Point · 4:33:40-4:34:47
Glorious and the cost of inadequate escort
Glorious's two-destroyer escort fell short of interwar Royal Navy carrier doctrine, which called for a larger screen including a cruiser.