Night carrier aviation could shape the daylight battle

In the 1920s, aerial torpedoes were more likely to damage a ship than destroy it, but damage could still decide an operation. The Royal Navy developed night-flying and night-carrier procedures because an enemy steering predictably in darkness offered a better target. A strike that damaged rudders or engines could force the opposing fleet to abandon, scuttle, or protect a crippled ship. British battleships could then choose when and how to engage the weakened formation in daylight.