An aircraft-carrier catapult design turned up in a file labelled for toilets and miscellaneous hydraulic systems. The example shows how archival cataloguing can separate a useful technical record from the search terms a historian would naturally use. Existing clues suggest that the Royal Navy was developing a fighter, but they do not reveal the decisive Supermarine file. The discovery offers a practical lesson in why historical conclusions remain provisional while mislabeled or dispersed evidence may still be found.
Notable Point · 30:48-31:28
Mislabeled archives may hide the missing fighter
A carrier-catapult design found under an unlikely file label illustrates why the missing naval-fighter record may still survive somewhere unexpected.