Implacable class and the Royal Navy compromise

The Royal Navy wanted Ark Royal's striking air group together with Illustrious-style protection. That combination would let a carrier remain close to the fleet in the Mediterranean or South China Sea while sustaining air operations and launching concentrated strikes. Earlier treaty-constrained studies had separated capabilities the Navy wanted together. The study that produced Illustrious also included the aviation-support concept developed as Unicorn and a larger design that evolved into Implacable. A still larger carrier may have been preferred, but Implacable came close to the practical British requirement. A similar American practice of starting with an ideal design and cutting it to treaty limits is suggested, but the comparison remains unconfirmed because the underlying American archival research was limited.