Indomitable was the carrier actually intended for the Far East before grounding off Jamaica delayed her. Her fighters could break up bombers already operating at long range without escorts, leaving shipboard guns to engage smaller and less coordinated attacks. Even Sea Gladiators would have posed a serious problem for aircraft arriving with little fuel and no fighter cover. Mediterranean experience with Force H provides the comparison: carrier-centered groups could take damage, but the layered system routinely prevented the catastrophic concentration that destroyed Force Z.
Notable Point · 38:52-40:58
Indomitable restores the missing fighter layer
Carrier fighters operating over heavy shipboard anti-aircraft fire would confront the unescorted Japanese bombers with the defense Force Z historically lacked.