Experimental Royal Navy ships would normally have been exercised hard, replaced within several years, and followed by new construction incorporating the lessons learned. Instead, early carriers remained in service roughly two decades after their creation. Treaty limits and constrained building programs reduced opportunities to test a fresh generation of purpose-built designs at sea. Paper studies and fleet exercises could explore ideas, but they could not fully substitute for constructing and operating the proposed ship. The argument is that the interrupted replacement cycle delayed the adjustment of capital ships, fleet systems, and doctrine to naval aviation before the Second World War.
Notable Point · 1:25:12-1:27:15
Treaties keep experimental carriers in service
Treaty limits and restricted construction keep experimental conversions operating for decades, slowing the usual cycle from trials to improved replacements.