Cruisers with fifteen eight-inch guns and the assumed radar fit are treated as too dangerous for Britain's existing cruisers to handle routinely. Accelerating the King George V class, Vanguard, and the Lion programme is proposed as the fastest construction response. A new 9.2-inch cruiser or a redesigned fast KGV would add design and approval work before construction could solve the immediate problem. Existing battlecruisers are also an imperfect answer: protection against several such cruisers is questioned, and modernized Renown is preferred to Repulse. U-class submarines therefore remain an important immediate counter while stronger surface forces are prepared.
Notable Point · 2:02:19-2:06:38
Venezia cruisers force Britain to prioritize existing capital-ship designs
The need to counter fifteen-gun heavy cruisers favours rapid completion of familiar capital ships, while redesigning a faster KGV or new cruiser takes too long.