One German carrier changes deployment more than British design

Should the British response have begun before the war with better dive bombers and trial escort carriers?

A lone, already-known Graf Zeppelin was more likely to alter British deployment than force major new designs; several German carriers would have produced a larger response.

The British programme already accounted for Graf Zeppelin as a known construction project. One ship nearing completion gave little reason for a sudden pre-war leap in dive bombers or purpose-built convoy fighter carriers. Royal Navy strike doctrine used dive bombing partly to suppress defences for torpedo attack, while Graf Zeppelin's armoured structure was a difficult target for the limited bombs available. A multi-carrier accelerated Z Plan would provoke a stronger material response; one carrier would mostly limit the freedom to send British carriers to the Far East.