:Yes.  I suppose I was referring to the fact that it was beyond imagination that a carrier group was going to sail into a region controlled and protected by a number of airfields, and the carrier group would decimate the shore based air units as the Fast Carrier Task Force did in 1944 and '45, so by leaving it open I was referring to the general notion of the lethality of carrier based aircraft being in question, but it still works in that paragraph to specify ships, so it could be fine that way as well.  It was not what I intended when I wrote that sentence, but I don't own it and it would not be wrong to put it back in as you had it.