Illustrious and Ark Royal embody different answers to how the Royal Navy expected carriers to fight. Armour on Illustrious reduced the number of aircraft she could carry for her roughly 23,000-long-ton displacement. Strike carriers were designed around the air group for attacks such as Taranto, while fleet carriers remained with the moving fleet to scout, provide fighter defence, and deliver strikes. The strike carrier served as concentrated offensive power at the admiral's direction. Air-group size therefore has to be judged alongside a carrier's assigned mission and protection scheme.
Chapter · 42:49-44:17
Strike carriers and fleet carriers answered different missions
Ark Royal and Illustrious illustrate how air-group size, armour, and assigned mission pulled British carrier designs in different directions.