Victorious could shield American strike carriers as USS Robin

How useful would HMS Victorious have been in a carrier battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy?

She could absorb damage and serve as a fighter-direction carrier, freeing American carriers to concentrate more heavily on strikes.

The answer expects Victorious to survive ordinary Japanese bomb damage better than an unarmoured flight-deck carrier, while acknowledging that enough hits could still overwhelm her. Her more important contribution as USS Robin would be organizing fighters and protecting the task force. If British armoured carriers concentrated on the combat air patrol, American carriers could devote more of their air groups and deck cycles to strike missions. The benefit therefore comes from specialization within a combined carrier force as much as from the resistance of one flight deck.