Churchill's early shipbuilding pause and the cost of lost momentum

After becoming First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill paused carrier and capital-ship construction to emphasize immediate escort production on a First World War model. Hunt-class destroyers and Flower-class corvettes had already been designed and ordered before the war through work associated with Reginald Henderson and Ernle Chatfield. The pause also assumed a war confined to Germany and northern Europe rather than one demanding ships in the Mediterranean and Far East. Stopping industrial and design momentum required a short decision, while recovering it cost months or years and helped leave interim equipment such as the Fulmar in service longer.