Choosing one British carrier for the 1920s

If Britain could build only one carrier in the 1920s, what should it choose?

A large Admiral-class conversion or purpose-built ship approaching Ark Royal's capability and suited to worldwide operations.

With sufficient conversion tonnage, the preferred choice was an Admiral-class hull approaching Ark Royal's capacity. Lexington and Saratoga were excellent Pacific ships, but a British carrier also had to operate effectively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea. A design optimized for one navy's principal ocean was not automatically the best answer for Britain's dispersed commitments. The choice favors worldwide balance and useful air-group capacity over simply selecting the most famous large conversion available in the 1920s.