well even from an outside look, it seems a bit small. it could also be related to the spawning point of the aircraft to. but this is just my view on it.
What about the carriers catapults? they were used in WW2. why not have them in use for AH2? and yes the elevator on the side of the deck does need to me raised.
Use of the catapults varied. With the pre-war first-line carriers, catapult launches were rare due to the size and speed of the ships. However, as aircraft weights and sizes increased, catapult launches became more common by war's end with some ships reporting up to 40% of planes launched by catapult. I think the use of catapults were more common on the escort carriers because of their smaller size and slower speeds than full size carriers.
So it is not unrealistic for planes being able to launch off the CV without the use of a catapult in AH.
ack-ack