Malta and Midway: shared lessons, different doctrines

Malta and Midway were parallel responses to similar problems. Both were ordered in 1943 after their designers had absorbed evidence from carrier battles and allied information exchange. The United States emphasised the opportunity for a concentrated strike while sustaining fighters for defence. Britain read the same evidence as validation of continuous flying operations and repeated strike generation, although it also valued a large opening blow. Taranto and Mers-el-Kébir were British examples of that concentrated blow, and the opportunities available to Britain were usually harbour strikes. Identical combat evidence could therefore produce different doctrines and ship designs.