The thought experiment warns against comparing only carrier air-group size. British armoured carriers tolerated the Mediterranean air threat differently from American carriers with wooden flight decks, so more aircraft would come with a survivability tradeoff. The exchange would also replace British Town and Leander light cruisers with Omaha and Brooklyn-class ships, changing surface firepower and escort capabilities. St. Louis and Helena's twin 5-inch/38 battery would be especially relevant against air attack, making cruiser composition part of the counterfactual rather than a footnote to carrier numbers.
Notable Point · 1:01:25-1:03:24
A US Navy Mediterranean counterfactual changes more than carriers
A hypothetical exchange of American and British forces pairs larger US carrier air groups with a flight-deck survivability tradeoff and also changes the light cruisers available for Mediterranean operations.