Should the Royal Navy have avoided the loss of HMS Dasher after earlier carrier disasters?
Short answerDasher was an early American-built Avenger-class carrier whose fuel system Britain initially assumed was adequate; afterward it rebuilt the systems in every similar ship it received.
NotesDasher was among the early U.S.-built escort carriers accepted quickly because Britain urgently needed hulls. The Royal Navy assumed the American aviation-fuel arrangement offered protection comparable to its own, an assumption later experience disproved. Subsequent ships had their fuel-management systems rebuilt, and American observers eventually recognized the value of the more cautious British practice.