The final recommendation begins with the Porpoise class and conventional fast-battery submarines during a technological transition. A 1956 Sea Lords discussion was prompted by a forecast that most existing boats would soon become unfit despite modernisation, although the book treats that prediction as too pessimistic. Improving Soviet submarine performance made the question urgent and encouraged a wholesale reconsideration of the postwar fleet. Immediate conventional requirements now had to be weighed against emerging technologies that might reshape the submarine force. This strategic problem frames the programme choices that follow.
Chapter · 41:21-43:30
Reassessing the postwar British submarine fleet
British Submarines in the Cold War opens with the Porpoise class, fast-battery boats, and a 1956 review of how Britain should answer the growing Soviet submarine threat.