How peacetime carrier experience developed

Before World War II, few navies had enough carriers to develop much experience of routine peacetime deterrence. Royal Navy examples included counter-piracy work in the South China Sea and shows of force in the Mediterranean, although these deployments did not yet form a settled approach to carrier diplomacy. Wartime success made carriers capital ships and status symbols for maritime powers. The Cold War then imposed caution because naval confrontations could escalate toward nuclear war. It also concentrated much operational attention on the North Atlantic and the Soviet Union, leaving carrier experience elsewhere less widely discussed.