Although the Kido
Butai was only using 5 out of its 6 Fast Carriers (Kaga had returned to Tokyo
to be refitted while Light Carrier Ryujo sailed in her place), the British
Royal Navy had been under far greater strain as the biggest and best of the
British Empire’s resources were tied up in the War against Hitler in the
Atlantic.
.
The British Empire also called on the first ranks of
enlisted men from British Colonies such as India, Australia, and British Malaya
to fight in North Africa. This left only the reservists and volunteers to
defend their homelands.
.
For India, this wasn’t a most pressing matter because of
its large population. For Australia, however, the attacks on its Northern
Territories and neighboring New Guinea had dire consequences.
.
The entire British
Aircraft Carrier fleet only consisted of
four Carriers, with two ships (the Victorious and Formidable) protecting the
Home Fleet in the Atlantic while the Illustrious and Indomitable were left to
protect all of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Additionally, support ships in the
Royal Australian Navy were that of outdated WWI-Era Cruisers and Battleships,
both of which were down-classed in light of the growing size of warships.
.
Unfortunately, the
same policies that inflicted the Navy fleet composition at the outset of War in the
Pacific also plagued the supply of planes in the RAF's Air Fleet. The British Carriers were equipped
with outdated planes, such as the Martlett (the British version of the F4F
Wildcat), some Fairey Fulmars (shown above), and a half-squadron of Fairey Swordfish (at left) Torpedo
Bombers, old biplanes built in the 1930s, before single-wing aircraft had come
into their own.
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