The campaign to ban submarines sat beside a procurement choice Britain controlled directly. Specialist sloops performed strongly in anti-submarine exercises, but their modest speed suited merchant convoy escort better than fast fleet work. Most could make about 20 knots at maximum and cruise at roughly 12, so they could not keep pace when surface fleets accelerated. More sloops would also have made larger, more realistic ASW exercises possible before war. No treaty barred Britain from building that counterforce, yet governments kept trying to legislate the submarine problem away.
Notable Point · 3:10-4:32
British submarine bans versus ASW investment
Britain repeatedly sought to ban submarines while underinvesting in the numerous specialist sloops that performed well in anti-submarine exercises.