Choosing shipborne aircraft by mission

Was the Supermarine Walrus the best ship-launched aircraft of the Second World War?

It was probably the best utility amphibian of the group, but the Kingfisher was preferable for spotting and the F1M for aerial combat.

The panel rejects a single best shipborne aircraft because the candidates were optimized for different jobs. The Supermarine Walrus was an amphibious flying boat with good rough-sea behaviour and useful transport value for officers, stores, and liaison work. The OS2U Kingfisher is preferred for conventional spotting from a warship. Japan's F1M offers the best aerial fighting qualities among the examples, while the Arado Ar 196's small production and distributed support help explain its reliability reputation. The comparison rewards matching an aircraft to the mission rather than ranking unlike designs by one headline characteristic.