Escort procurement and carrier availability

A larger sloop force could have reduced the need to interrupt carrier construction for emergency small-warship orders. Additional escorts might also have prevented some early losses, although the survival of particular ships remains uncertain. The counterfactual then considers Glorious and Courageous operating together during the Norwegian campaign. A paired carrier force might have carried a rear admiral whose command decisions kept aircraft airborne and changed the encounter with German warships. Each later possibility depends on earlier changes to procurement and ship survival.