HMS Indomitable was meant to deploy east but grounded during work-up off Jamaica, delaying her by just over a month. That small accident kept what was probably the Eastern Fleet's first realistically worked-up carrier from reaching Force Z. The Japanese bombers attacked near the edge of their range without fighter escorts, so even Sea Gladiators would have added a credible interception layer. Fighters would not make the force invulnerable, but they could disrupt bomber formations before the shipboard defenses engaged them. The counterfactual therefore turns on a narrow change in ship availability rather than an invented force.
Notable Point · 0:00-2:35
Indomitable's grounding created a narrow historical hinge
A delay of just over a month after grounding off Jamaica kept the carrier from Force Z, even though modest fighter cover could have challenged the unescorted Japanese bombers.