Submarines as Britain's primary anti-ship platform

Why are submarines treated as the primary anti-ship platform rather than carriers?

That is especially a British formulation shaped by an anti-ship missile gap and Falklands experience; carrier aircraft remain major anti-ship platforms elsewhere.

Carrier aircraft remain major anti-ship platforms, so describing submarines as the primary weapon requires a particular naval context. Britain's emphasis on SSNs also helped cover a period when its surface ships lacked dependable anti-ship missiles. A well-crewed modern nuclear submarine with good sensors and torpedoes nevertheless poses a severe threat to surface ships. One explanation links the British approach to Falklands experience and the expectation of fighting distant wars with time to prepare. Under that model, submarines reach the area and attack enemy ships before the surface fleet moves in. The assumption is much less useful when the immediate task is to prevent an island from being seized.