Replacing fleet carriers in early Western Approaches ASW

Courageous was lost while supporting hunter-killer operations west of Ireland, close enough that shore-linked aviation support was plausible. A tender in a protected anchorage, or even a limited tender operating with the destroyers, might have supplied the small air component needed without risking a full fleet carrier. Losing such a ship would still hurt, though it would not remove an asset as broadly useful as Courageous. The proposed program of roughly two dozen merchant-style hulls was modest relative to naval construction and could also expand industrial capacity for later aviation ships.