WI HMS Illustrious lost during Operation Excess

IOTL, HMS Illustrious took a severe beating from German dive-bombers while escorting convoys as part of Operation Excess, but survived. Suppose the Germans manage to get in a few more hits, enough to either sink Illustrious or damage her to the point that the British declare her a constructive total loss. Beyond the effects caused by her absence from the rest of the war, would there be any effect on Royal Navy carrier design philosophy?
 

Saphroneth

Banned
The idea behind the armoured carriers was to make them really, really hard to sink. One of the key facets of that was that she was armoured against (IIRC) 500 kg bombs.
Some of the bombs that hit her were bigger than her deck was designed to defeat, though. It would not really be seen as an invalidation - after all, if you build something that takes that much pounding, then that's a lot of firepower that can't be directed elsewhere on that mission.
 
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