I was reading a scan of natgeo 1942 mag. has a article declaring the aircraft carrier as the queen of the battle and towards the end a wet dream kind of article imagining the then vice admiral william halsey leading a fleet of 100 carriers across the pacific in a single task force with 6000 planes and screened by cruisers and destroyers. when the IJN imperial fleet came out, he would launch 1000s of fighters to clear the opposition then unleash 1000s of dive and torpedo bombers to sink anything afloat.
seems Roosevelt in 42 approved the 100 carrier plan (including converted merchant ships famously in action @ leyte gulf later) and a/c production of 185,000
the article also has a singhaesque B&W artists impression of this carrier fleet steaming in formation and the sky above blackend like a swarm of bees by 1000s of the air complement.
one new detail I learnt - we knew the prince of wales and repulse were
sunk by around 80 land based japanese bombers, but the real mayhem and
panic (churchill whining to FDR about threat to india) was unleashed by the
attack on colombo by a force est at 3 battleships, escorts and 5 carriers.
two other british cruisers sent to look were located and sunk and it seems a
small carrier
Hermes with 20 planes also fought this task force and sunk somewhere in IOR.
the article differentiates the EU theater from IOR-Pacific in the sense seas in
europe are small and constantly under watch of land based a/c, so room to
move and hide are small - a/c carriers are only in their prime element in the
vast open spaces of IOR and Pacific where they can use the sea room and speed
to evade enemies, attack from unexpected quadrants and disappear again with
impunity.