More sloops built before the war could have released V- and W-class destroyers for fast escort work with carrier groups. The proposal considers surprisingly fast sloops designed for about twenty knots, but also argues that additional ordinary sloops would have helped. Their value lies in relieving duties that otherwise consume destroyers needed around carriers. Stronger carrier escorts might, in this counterfactual, have prevented Ark Royal's loss. The suggested peacetime outlay is modest compared with the wartime problems that followed, although the opportunity to make those earlier decisions had passed by January 1942.
Notable Point · 9:20-10:10
Earlier sloop construction could free fast destroyers for carriers
More peacetime sloop construction could have released V- and W-class destroyers for carrier escort and reduced the risk to Ark Royal.