Interwar fleets invested in carriers while retaining battleships whose fighting value was established. Funding both reduced the risk of depending entirely on a capability still being developed. John Bull proposes the Amelia Earhart search as an underexplored example of carrier learning in wide-area scouting and search and rescue. He and Alex tentatively identify the participating carrier as Lexington. The operation allowed extensive aerial sweeps with unusually strong support for the expense involved, and he connects the resulting experience with methods of searching a large ocean area. Its wider doctrinal influence is presented as a subject deserving more research.
Notable Point · 1:20:04-1:22:14
Carrier investment hedged risk before combat proved the concept
Navies built carriers beside battleships while learning new uses for embarked aircraft, including a Lexington-class carrier's search for Amelia Earhart.