Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 091" video.

Interesting speculation about the RN facing down the IJN. As Drach said, it would come down to the aircraft. Navalized Hurricanes and Spits had their shortcomings. The biplane torpedo planes were achingly slow, which gave AA and intercepting fighters more opportunity to chop them up. Buying more suitable aircraft from the US would be the first thing to come to mind. The Dauntless could carry a larger payload than a Skua and had a longer range. The Devastator was hobbled with the unreliable early Mk 13 torpedo, and the Brit aerial torp was significantly longer. The Avenger did not come into service until mid 42. The Brits would have difficulty using their favorite offensive weapon, the torpedo.
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The Swordfish, Kate and Devastator were all pretty short ranged, when carrying a torpedo. The Dauntless was the one of that era that could really "reach out and touch someone", as it probably had the flexibility to reduce the payload in exchange for more gas. The Brits would need to change their tactics to use bombs more than torps.
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@johnshepherd8687 and neither a Merlin powered Mustang, nor a Corsair, was available in late 41.
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@johnshepherd8687 The TBD did OK at Coral Sea, because the Wildcats and Dauntlesses waited for the TBDs to catch up, then they launched a coordinated attack. Midway was a pig's breakfast, because all the fighters and bombers flew off in the wrong directions. If the USN had repeated the coordination of Coral Sea, the IJN would have been distracted watching the CAP intercept the Wildcats while the Dauntlesses dove on them, and might not see the TBDs sneaking up on them at masthead height. Thing is, the Brit Mk 12 is longer than the USN Mk 13, so I don't know if the TBD could have been modified to carry them.
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@johnshepherd8687 iirc, the FAA pilots developed a curving approach, so they could keep eyes on the deck until the last few moments. That approach helped considerably.
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