Britain's interwar blockade plans assigned cruisers to capture enemy merchant ships whenever possible because the hulls were valuable transport assets. During World War II, captured German and Italian ships, Free French vessels, and Norway's large merchant fleet all increased Allied carrying capacity. The German invasion brought Norwegian shipping into the Allied Atlantic effort, and Norwegian crews were described as fiercely willing to confront U-boats. This expectation helps explain why the Royal Navy did not make German-style submarine commerce warfare its default doctrine.
Notable Point · 7:37-8:36
Captured merchant ships were part of blockade strategy
Cruiser blockades aimed to seize useful merchant hulls, while captured and allied fleets expanded Britain's wartime carrying capacity.