I’m not talking overhaul or such. If an enemy gets a lucky hit and disabled a carrier or destroyed it, how fast could we plug the gap?
If this one ship is vital to operations, what will it take and how quickly can we adapt to its loss?
You can disable an A/C Carrier with one or two torpedoes. But there are 3,000 guys trying to get the damage under control and back operational. If watertight doors are all shut it is almost impossible to sink one. The question is can air wing bingo to the beach while A/C gets back operational.
“what will it take and how quickly can we adapt to its loss?”
There are, or were plans to convert large container ships into axillary carriers. The Brits did this in the Falklands war.
These would be slower - obviously but a 70,000 ton merchant ship could be converted to carry 70 or planes in about 9 months by converting the main cargo deck into the hanger deck and building a flight deck above that
At the moment, there is one shipyard that can do the work, and it takes approximately nine years to lay down, build, fit out, trial and commission one.
I agree with those who say these floating bombs are obsolete (in a warfighting sense), and that the upcoming Chinese Pearl Harbor will simultaneously attack and sink 5 or 6 of them.