Armament, endurance, and wartime growth margins

The surviving studies vary even for the Illustrious ships, showing that nominal standard displacement was not exact in practice. One Implacable option included sixteen 4.5-inch guns with more ammunition than Illustrious, larger light anti-aircraft ammunition allowances, and consideration of 5.25-inch weapons. Endurance figures also conflict with published cruising ranges and need to be read cautiously. A design complement near 1,390 grew to roughly 2,300 by 1945 as aviation, command, information, and logistics demands expanded. Wartime fleet-flagship duties exceeded the growth that designers in 1938-1939 could reasonably have allowed for.