British lift and hangar arrangements worked for the aircraft sizes anticipated when the carriers were designed, although larger late-war aircraft reduced that margin. Limited deck parking reflected doctrine and operating conditions. North Atlantic weather discouraged routine deck parks, while British perpetual operations did not require assembling every aircraft for a single American- or Japanese-style alpha strike. Air-group capacity therefore has to be read alongside aircraft growth, sea conditions, and the sortie pattern a navy expected to sustain.
Notable Point · 19:00-20:17
Aircraft growth, deck parking, and British carrier doctrine
British armoured carriers are judged against the aircraft and perpetual-operation doctrine they were designed for, rather than later aircraft growth or Pacific alpha-strike practice.