The preferred design would have added roughly 3,500 to 4,000 tons while retaining a large air group. Because the flight deck formed the ship's strength deck, the extra displacement could also have supported armour there. British planners wanted a class that combined concentrated strike capacity with the protection and continuous operation associated with their armoured carriers. A cumulative carrier allowance of about 135,000 tons made that solution unaffordable across the number of hulls required. Treaty limits therefore forced designers to divide desired qualities among different carrier types.
Notable Point · 32:42-34:00
Treaty limits constrained Ark Royal's ideal design
Without cumulative treaty tonnage limits, the Royal Navy wanted a larger Ark Royal combining strike capacity with an armoured flight deck.