Did British and American carrier ideas converge, or did Pacific and Atlantic strategy produce fundamentally different doctrine?
Short answerThey converged on carrier power, but their strategic positions and Mahan-Corbett emphases made the United States focus on gaining sea control and Britain on preserving and using it.
NotesMahan and Corbett offered different emphases for different audiences rather than mutually exclusive theories. Mahan explained how a rising naval power could gain command of the sea, while Corbett addressed how an established maritime power could preserve and exploit it. Both included battle and the use of victory, but emphasized different stages for different audiences. This distinction helps explain why US exercises concentrated on the decisive fleet battle while British plans also built carriers into trade warfare, reinforcement, and the continuing use of sea control.