Pre-war concepts paired carriers inside a task force supported by rebuilt Queen Elizabeth-class battleships or Renown with strong anti-aircraft batteries. This differed from the American practice of coordinating carriers that remained separated over the horizon, but both systems expected more than one carrier in a group. The losses of Courageous, Glorious, and Ark Royal rapidly removed the ships needed to sustain the British arrangement. A three-front war then sent surviving carriers wherever the immediate need was greatest. The result was wartime improvisation imposed on doctrine designed for a larger and more balanced force.
Notable Point · 36:12-38:01
Pre-war carrier groups broken by wartime losses
British plans for pairs of mutually supporting carriers and rebuilt capital ships collapsed as early losses stripped away the intended force structure.