The 1942 Malta work was not a frozen pre-war ideal because aircraft size and naval aviation requirements had changed sharply. The design retained the earlier ambition for four lifts, a very large hangar, a large air group, and protection, but scaled those features for wartime experience. A carrier's hangar is fixed once built, while successive aircraft generations consume more space individually and require more room to manoeuvre. That steadily reduces the number of aircraft an older ship can handle even when newer machines are more capable. Malta's scale was therefore intended to preserve useful air-group capacity while supporting larger aircraft over a longer service life.
Notable Point · 10:18-12:46
A carrier scaled for larger wartime aircraft
Malta retained the ambition for four lifts, a very large hangar, a large air group, and protection, but adjusted the concept for aircraft that had grown during the war.