A twelve-ship force does not put all twelve carriers at sea together. The estimate assumes at least six remain usable, leaving one available deck for each distant station. Singapore, Australian facilities, Freetown, and South African bases support maintenance and rotation away from Britain. That overseas network makes the proposed readiness cycle more plausible within the counterfactual.
Notable Point · 1:07:33-1:08:10
Overseas bases keep station carriers available
A network of overseas maintenance bases makes it plausible for six of twelve light carriers to remain available, one for each distant station.