Glorious was a 22,500-ton conversion completed in 1930, with a lower flying-off position that was later removed, and could carry about fifty aircraft. The losses of Glorious and Courageous introduce a criticism of using fleet carriers as the center of anti-submarine hunter groups. That role exposed a large share of the fleet's aviation capacity to submarine attack. Argus and Hermes each carried about fifteen aircraft and could handle some of the same work, so their loss would have cost less striking power. A ship's ability to perform a mission does not by itself make that mission a sensible use of a scarce asset.
Chapter · 2:47-5:36
HMS Glorious and the cost of risking fleet carriers
Glorious's fifty-aircraft capacity sets up a warning about placing scarce fleet carriers at the center of anti-submarine hunter groups.