The loss of HMS Glorious shows how peacetime organization can shape wartime reflexes. An Admiral-derived carrier would be too valuable for routine antisubmarine duty or unescorted passage and would normally sail with a fast capital ship, cruisers, and destroyers. Airborne reconnaissance could detect Scharnhorst and Gneisenau early enough to launch a strike, after which Hood or an F3-type battlecruiser would close for a surface action. The encounter gives the counterfactual doctrine an operational consequence beyond the addition of more hulls.
Notable Point · 1:07:01-1:09:23
A worked-up carrier group reverses the Glorious encounter
A large carrier operating with airborne reconnaissance and a battlecruiser escort turns the historical loss of Glorious into a dangerous interception for the Germans.