By 1937 Queen Elizabeth and Valiant are entering reconstruction, leaving Malaya and Barham as the remaining Queen Elizabeth-class candidates. Barham, however, had only just completed a major 1931-1934 refit that included anti-aircraft improvements. Reopening her for new boilers would discard recent dockyard investment and repeat major disruption before the value of the earlier work had been recovered. Her case shows why even a transformative propulsion system would still be adopted through fleet schedules, prior spending, and ship-specific opportunity costs.
Notable Point · 27:43-28:46
Barham exposes the cost of refitting twice
Barham's recently completed 1931-1934 refit makes her a poor immediate candidate for another machinery reconstruction even when the new boilers promise major gains.