Why British and American carrier designs diverged

The discussion rejects the idea that either navy simply misunderstood air power. Under treaty tonnage limits, the United States designed for a Pacific war and maximized aircraft capacity so each permitted carrier contributed the largest possible air group. Britain needed carriers able to remain in action across the Mediterranean, North Sea, and distant Pacific theatres. In confined waters such as the Mediterranean, British carriers had less room to evade land-based attack and needed to survive successive days of operations. Armoured decks and larger American air groups were therefore different answers to different geography, infrastructure, and doctrine. Comparing them as if every navy faced the same war obscures the rational trade-offs behind both designs.