The counterfactual imagines an Illustrious-class carrier retaining its armoured deck while gaining enough size for a 48-aircraft group. The prewar mix would include Fulmars, Skuas, and Swordfish, with wartime experience likely shifting more places toward fighters. Even twelve Fulmars and twelve Skuas would have produced a limited but credible 1939-1940 defensive group, showing how modest changes in carrier capacity could alter operational options. The 48-aircraft proposal illustrates how air-group capacity might change the early-war balance between interception and strike without claiming that the revised carrier would be invulnerable.
Notable Point · 19:35-20:42
A 48-aircraft Illustrious-class counterfactual
A larger armoured carrier with 48 aircraft illustrates how extra displacement might have improved early-war fighter defense and strike flexibility.