Once presence and scouting duties have their own light-carrier tonnage, navies can spend the main carrier allowance on fewer but more capable ships. A 27,000-ton Ark Royal illustrates the possible British payoff: more speed, protection, torpedo defence, and flight-deck armour. The same logic could let the United States skip Ranger and Wasp in favour of additional Yorktown-class carriers. The counterfactual changes both the fleet carriers and the number of small hulls.
Notable Point · 1:09:45-1:14:04
Separate allowances could support larger fleet carriers
A separate light-carrier allowance removes pressure to economize on fleet-carrier tonnage, producing a larger Ark Royal and more Yorktown-class ships instead of Ranger and Wasp.