How adaptable were the armoured carriers to the wartime roles they had to perform?
Short answerTaranto demonstrated that an armoured carrier could deliver a long-range night strike using techniques rehearsed before the war.
NotesTaranto put an armoured carrier into the strike role, while a strike carrier supplied a diversion. The operation drew on about a decade of exercises launching long-range night strikes against Malta. The Swordfish suited those missions because it was reliable, manageable after dark, and able to deliver a useful load over distance. Some unnamed successor aircraft offered stronger performance on paper but proved less reliable.