The 1916 American programme included ten battleships, six battlecruisers and 140 smaller vessels. In Boyd's account, British concern grew when the United States initially maintained that programme after entering the war, while Britain wanted more escorts and merchant ships against the U-boats. Capital-ship work was then suspended and American escort and merchant construction expanded. British officials still expected the larger battle-fleet programme to return. Their assessments combined wartime requirements with suspicions about future naval strength, commerce and overseas influence.
Notable Point · 2:37:38-2:39:54
Capital-ship ambitions competed with the wartime need for escorts
British assessments of the American building programme connected immediate anti-submarine needs with concerns about the postwar naval and commercial balance.