Organizing a three-wave night strike

Sending every aircraft at once would overcrowd the dark harbour and leave formations circling too long while assembling. Half-hour-separated waves let each carrier contribute roughly a squadron while preserving room to manoeuvre. The historical force kept its scarce Fulmars back for air defence, but a four-carrier concentration could risk twelve of them on the strike. They could drop flares and attack barrage balloons, freeing Swordfish for torpedoes and bombs. Skuas and Albacores would probably emphasize bombing because their crews had less experience with the specialized night torpedo role. Surviving doctrine is fragmentary, so the exact mix remains a reconstruction rather than a documented order. A rule of roughly one squadron per carrier produces the forty-to-forty-eight-aircraft formations reflected in British night exercises and planning.