Planned-war carriers after the treaty system

Carriers ordered between the collapse of treaty limits and the outbreak of the Second World War reveal each navy's preferred force once cumulative tonnage limits loosened. Britain wanted the striking capacity associated with Ark Royal together with the survivability expected of an armored fleet carrier. The United States treated carrier design as an industrial problem and sought a type that yards could build in large numbers. Japan came closest to assembling its intended prewar carrier force, although it began the war with much of the wider building program unfinished.