The Royal Navy enters the war with established carrier-and-battlecruiser formations instead of assembling them experimentally. The large ships are distributed among the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean to balance machinery commonality with regional deterrence. Fifteen years of working up these formations could encourage an immediate carrier strike on Wilhelmshaven or other German naval bases while the U-boat threat is still limited. The same experience might preserve a formal distinction between strike carriers and fleet carriers and influence whether Ark Royal is built as an additional high-capacity deck.
Chapter · 58:47-1:03:39
Carrier groups open the war from three oceans
Fifteen years of strike-carrier practice distributes British carrier groups across the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean and makes an early attack on German naval bases plausible.