Formidable enters the Crete fighting after roughly three months of operations, when aircraft, parts, and supplies have already been consumed by the wider Mediterranean war. On 26 May the carrier is sent against German dive-bomber bases in an effort to reduce pressure on the island and fleet. The shortage of aircraft and spares at the end of a long supply chain is exactly the problem HMS Unicorn was intended to address. American carriers could use their larger unarmoured volume to store dismantled aircraft and parts, giving them replacement capacity beyond the embarked air group's headline strength. Similar spare-parts shortages appeared during the Falklands War because air operations consume components even when aircraft survive combat. Formidable shows how a fleet can remain present while losing the ability to sustain another demanding operation.
Notable Point · 36:03-38:52
HMS Formidable reveals the fleet's supply strain
The carrier's effort to strike German air bases illustrates the attrition of a fleet operating far from spares and replacement aircraft, and why the Royal Navy was building HMS Unicorn as an aviation support ship.