A third carrier changes the Mediterranean rhythm

Sōryū could work alongside Illustrious while Eagle received maintenance instead of remaining continually at sea. Her fighters would first practise air defence, and the carriers would establish how to operate together. Recognition signals would matter before Japanese ships attempted independent raids, because a returning ship could otherwise be mistaken for an enemy by an Allied destroyer. The Mediterranean reinforcement would probably include cruisers and destroyers as well as the carrier. The proposed force reaches roughly ten cruisers and thirty destroyers, a substantial addition before the later Greek and Cretan campaigns.