How would widespread carrier aviation affect the German Panzerschiff programme?
Short answerIt would make commerce raiding far riskier by giving cruiser groups wide-area scouting and carrier strikes, possibly forcing Germany to rethink the ships' role.
NotesGermany might take naval aviation more seriously, but the greater change would be the declining viability of surface raiding. Light carriers stationed in the Atlantic could search much wider areas and launch torpedo attacks once a raider was found. At the River Plate, even a twenty-aircraft carrier would make Graf Spee's escape much harder. The Royal Navy's interwar emphasis on night operations and attacking ships in harbour extends that danger beyond daylight contact. Reaching a port would not necessarily put a raider beyond carrier attack.