Most Capable Carrier Design in 1941

I've said it before, but I'll say it again here: my hands down choice for most capable carrier is the Lexington Class. Check the other thread to see why.

I think your amazed by the WAS stat card; this was not a good carrier of even a carrier design at all.
    They did not preform well in battle and they do not come close to the Yorktown or Shokaku Classes

Ok, so there are currently two votes for Lexington and none for Yorktown, and no one has provided any sort of explanation as to why they chose said class. If you are going to vote for a ship, please explain why you consider it superior to others on the list (specifically Yorktown and Shokaku, which were very modern designs). 

The Lexingtons may have not been the best On dresign alone however they had some upgrades over the Yorktowns. The have 12 5 inch guns to the Yorktowns 8. They had roughly the same Smaller AA. By the end of the war the Saratoga had 16 5in! Saratoga also had a longer deck and was skinny. Giving some advantages and disadvantages. They had a longer Turn time so iSara had problems biting toros, however this gave the advantage of a longer flight deck making more aircraft being able to lanch faster. When Saratoga was torpedoed she was able to make it back to base on both times. Something that killed Wasp. The Saratoga also had the Modern aircraft earlier then the other carriers.
-ADM Yeller

Lex and Sara couldn't avoid damage. Their turning radius wasn't good enough and they were hardly in a fight they weren't damaged or destroyed, if they even made it to the fight.

The Yorktowns were superior. Despite being smaller they had better hanger and flight control arrangements. They also proved able to avoid and then take massive amounts of damage and keep fighting. The Lexingtons had more armament but this still wasn't enough to drive off attackers.

All of that said the Shokakus were better ships still. In 1941 the Japanese were just on a whole nother level when it came to carrier doctrine. It didn't take the USN long to catch up but in 41 I give it to Shokaku for air group alone.

The 3 best designs of 1941; Were Ark Royal--Yorktown--Shokaku by far; I don't know how aircraft make for a better design; but we'll go with
      Adm. Fisher's criteria;; so we lose Ark Royal and others UK CV's; the type of Aircraft needed for the Pacific type combat Carrier to Carrier are of no urgent need in 41 for the Atlantic or the UK.
So no need to go any further with Ark Royal or other UK carriers their air groups were no match for the USN or IJN and no matter i well i think they would have preformed without help they were doomed.

Air Groups;
      No doubt the IJN had the upper hand here; Better Fighter; Better Torpedo Plane;; To bad for the IJN Dive Bombers can do so much more damage so much easier.
 and how about the Thach Weave; its something how a free mans mind works over an indoctrinated one. Still give it to Shokaku

AA;
      You have to give in 41 a slight edge to the USN only because of the 5"/38 gun was superior to IJN 5/40;; the other AA guns on both ships the Type 96 and 1.1"75 proved to be poor designs
 Give it to USN

Damage Control;
      In 1941 DC wasn't what it would be a year later; but the USN had a command structure to deal with it far superior to the IJN;
 The USN used a multiple command through out the ship the IJN used a single control officer; when that officer was killed AKA Akagi at Midway the results are predictable.
       Give it to USN

Survivability;;
       The Yorktown from what i've read dedicated almost 1000 tons to vital ares that could withstand up to 6' shells ;; The Shokaku dedicated 2000 withstanding up to 8" shells
 The Yorktown did have superior torpedo protection;;  Class A steel and STS plating in vital areas which helped with the lower protection numbers.
        Carriers need a strength deck the UK choice; Flight decks; the USN hanger decks; the IJN a double hanger deck; it seemed to not work well; they were small for the tasks needed yet when a bomb penetrated the enclosure caused more damage.
 Still both class's were durable and hard to kill i give this a tie based on their war records.

Speed and Range;
     Shokaku has a slight advantage in speed; Yorktown in range; Rate of oil use as a dramatic climb with speed;; example Shokaku going from 15 knots to 30 burns 10 times the rate.
 So speed has to be used wisely to stay in the game. Shokaku was rated 7,700 nautical miles at 18 knots;;   Yorktown 8,200 nautical miles at 20 knot
      Yorktown carried more Fuel oil;;  Shokaku more Aviation Fuel;;   So; Shokaku Tactically;;  Yorktown Strategically
 Still to close to call.

  I think both designs were good and came along at the right time for each nation, they make for good game play and balance in any WW2 naval game. 
The next generation was just to over powering.

 
   

So perhaps were carriers like Lexington or even Saratoga "overpowered"?

One thing people have to keep in mind is the restrictions the treaty imposed and that just because it was good ship for its tonnage/how it fit within the treaty doesn't mean at least to me that it as the best.