British carrier requirements distinguished strikes against ships sheltering in harbor from operations close to the fleet and shore-based aircraft. The fleet-carrier role called for armor, particularly in the Mediterranean and South China Sea. Strike and fleet carriers could operate together in groups to compensate for the smaller air groups associated with survivability measures. Ark Royal exemplifies the strike role in this comparison, while designs resembling Implacable offered another direction for development. Midway is interpreted as extending the Yorktown approach with greater protection, while Essex gives more weight to rapid mass production. Britain and the United States could pursue these carrier programs alongside capital-ship construction more readily than Japan.
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Strike carriers, armored fleet carriers, and air-group size
Carrier roles shaped the balance between aircraft capacity and protection, with different British and American routes toward larger, more survivable ships.