Q&A · 7:10-15:06

What should the interwar Royal Navy carrier have been?

Drachinifel proposes retaining two Admiral-class battlecruiser hulls to form the Royal Navy's large interwar carrier force.

Question

What would the ideal pre-Second World War aircraft carrier have looked like for the Royal Navy?

Short answer

Convert two surviving Admiral-class battlecruiser hulls into large carriers, accepting the loss of Courageous and Glorious to gain a faster, more capable interwar carrier core.

Notes

Retaining two Admiral-class hulls would give Britain a plausible starting point for larger interwar carriers. Conversion under the Washington treaty rules could produce ships comparable in broad role to Lexington, Saratoga, Akagi, and Kaga, raising the baseline for aircraft capacity, protection, and fleet speed. The trade would probably cost Courageous and Glorious as operational warships, although disarming them for training remained an option. Furious could remain available under the experimental-carrier provisions. Later reductions would then begin with a more capable carrier force.