Why cruiser floatplanes disappeared from wartime fleets

Floatplanes were useful for finding surface raiders in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, but they became less practical in heavily contested waters. In the Mediterranean, land-based and carrier aircraft could handle much of the scouting, while recovering a floatplane forced its cruiser to slow or stop and use a crane. Removing the aircraft also freed weight and space for extra fuel, machine guns, and anti-aircraft weapons. Once more carriers were available, the recovery penalty became harder to justify. Helicopters eventually offered ships a much more practical way to operate aircraft without stopping for crane recovery.