maybe the hangars are more like thouse in Battlestar Galactica - with lots of launch tubes - or external hangers like the base stars
Battlestar Galactica is a good reference for most people when it comes to star carriers. It also allows us to examine the many different ways a carrier can be designed.
External hangars that are partially protected from damage, but are exposed to space, that can store very large ships inside it. It can also launch and recover fighters and other craft, although at a fairly slow rate. It is basically like a giant landing strip. Like old WW2 carriers in the pacific, I can picture an assault being prepared by moving all craft onto the external hangars to launch all at once.
Launch tubes are used to quickly launch Vipers, and only Vipers, when an enemy is detected. It requires fast launch of as many fighters as possible in as short of time as possible. It cannot recover Vipers, nor can it launch anything larger than a fighter. It also cannot store fighters for long periods of time.
Internal hangars used to store, maintain and service fighters, scout craft and their munitions. They cannot recover or launch craft, but they can move the craft via elevators and power tugs into the other hangars for launch. Most of the space is empty to allow for easy movement and maintenance.
Compare that to the Star Destroyer from Star Wars:
It has internal hangars that store it's Tie Fighters in very efficient storage racks. They cannot launch from here, but they can be boarded and moved via internal rails to the launch hangar. Each rack may only house Tie Variants small enough to fit; a fighter rack cannot hold bombers, but a bomber rack could hold fighters and bombers. It has a separate hangar space for shuttles and such, attached to the external hangar via a big door.
The launch hangars are capable of storing fighters, bombers, shuttles and even several corvette sized ships. The launch hangars can both launch and recover Tie fighters, although cannot launch fighters as fast or in as many numbers. While a Viper could just skid onto the deck, a Tie fighter has no landing gear and must be guided into the racks, thus slowing recovery time.
In summary:
-The Colonial Battlestar and the Imperial Star Destroyer are both capable of launching and recovering hundreds of fighters and bombers during a battle, although the Battlestar is far faster at both.
-Both have internal storage capable of storing a large amount of munitions, spare craft and maintenance facilities. While the ISD can store many more craft than the CBS, it can only store Tie Variants in their dedicated racks.
-Both ships can use their main external hangars to recover large ships.
-Both ships have armoured external hangars, although the CBS hangar is a much easier target to hit.
-Recovered craft on CBS requires the craft being dragged to the elevator for transfer (when during a combat landing) or must land directly on an elevator. ISD Tie Fighters dock directly to their rack, allowing instant transfer to the internal hangar if need be.
-ISD hangars are pressurized with atmosphere, CBS are vacuum.
There are so many other types of carrier designs out there in both RL and works of fiction. Speculative literature is always a good place to look for inspiration to steal.
