Naval history can be studied through rejected choices as well as events that occurred. Prioritizing escorts gave ministers a defensible reason to pause carriers and other capital ships. Admiralty papers written at the time also argued against the pause, which makes the alternative a contemporary option rather than a later invention. Comparing those live arguments helps explain the tradeoffs without claiming that a different decision would certainly have saved Force Z.
Notable Point · 15:07-16:19
Learning from naval paths not taken
Contemporary arguments on both sides of the carrier pause make the rejected option useful for counterfactual analysis without turning hindsight into certainty.