Postwar advocacy differed from the conditions under which Reginald Henderson had established the modern Fleet Air Arm and Lumley Lyster had helped drive its wartime expansion. During the war, escort-carrier convoy protection and fleet air cover in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Pacific, and North Atlantic made the requirement for naval aviation difficult to dispute. After 1945 many experienced aviation officers retired, while the immediate operational pressure behind procurement weakened. Following Andrew Cunningham's death, John Cunningham appears as a good officer who lacked the political skill needed for the battles in Whitehall, leaving Philip Vian and Caspar John to make much of the senior case. Vian argued for both the surface fleet and aviation, while John concentrated on carriers and also treated submarines as their complementary offensive arm.
Chapter · 21:42-24:30
Rebuilding the political case for naval aviation after 1945
When wartime urgency and many veteran advocates disappeared, Caspar John and Philip Vian had to defend carriers through institutional politics as well as operational evidence.