Churchill, sea power, and pre-war escort orders

The Seafire dispute leads into a caution about Churchill's understanding of sea power. Churchill could be an important naval advocate while still approaching the Second World War through assumptions and grievances formed in the First. He later presented escort construction as an emergency shift, although the ships entering service soon afterwards had already been ordered in bulk in 1938 and 1939. Order and service dates therefore offer a useful check on the account in his political memoirs.