Sub-10,000-ton carriers as working fleet assets

Could navies make useful sub-10,000-ton carriers for reconnaissance and fighter-control duties?

Yes. A modified Hermes-style design could carry about 24 aircraft for reconnaissance and fighter duties while remaining a limited fleet asset.

The proposal gives Japan a sub-10,000-ton carrier with about 24 aircraft, divided between reconnaissance and fighter duties. Its capacity would be limited, but those missions do not require the air group of a strike carrier. HMS Hermes was only a little over 10,000 tons and provided a practical design precedent. The Royal Navy expected to answer foreign construction in this category with a modified Hermes design. Better boilers and machinery would make the concept easier to execute later in the interwar period.