Churchill's initial instinct was to stop large-warship construction and concentrate resources on escorts. Henderson could answer that moving skilled labour between different kinds of yards would create transition costs without accelerating small ships already filling available capacity, while Fisher could reinforce the political case. Reclassifying Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as battlecruisers would also be harder to use as a rationale for stopping British fast battleships under a former Director of Naval Intelligence and the admiral who knew the construction programme. The likely compromise completes the Illustrious class, Unicorn, the first three King George V-class battleships, and advanced cruisers while pausing less mature projects. That approach follows the First World War precedent of resisting a blanket cancellation by separating materially committed work from projects still easy to defer.
Chapter · 54:58-58:59
A negotiated answer to Churchill's construction pauses
Experienced Sea Lords might accept pauses on later ships while protecting advanced carriers, battleships, and cruisers whose materials and work were already committed.