Retired admirals and the source of anti-carrier quotations

Do retired admirals' anti-carrier statements in 1942 establish that admirals generally opposed carriers?

No; the example contrasts long-retired critics with serving admirals who were using carriers and asking for more.

The example concerns retired admirals criticizing aircraft carriers as a waste of money in 1942. Their quotations are then used to claim that admirals generally opposed carriers. The objection is that some of those men had been retired for decades, while serving admirals were using carriers and asking for more. An officer's position at the time of a statement therefore matters when treating that statement as evidence of institutional opinion.