The claim about the global disposition of Royal Navy destroyers comes under scrutiny. The estimate offered here puts no more than about thirty destroyers east of Suez, with still fewer modern ships farther east. Counting old harbour-defence destroyers can inflate the total because many were First World War vessels whose role resembled that of sloops. The much larger pressures came from the Norwegian campaign and the need for destroyers to cover Atlantic convoys before corvettes entered service in quantity. The correction models how to read a good narrative critically while retaining its wider value.
Notable Point · 11:22-12:14
Correcting the Royal Navy's 1940 destroyer distribution
The book's implication that most British destroyers were in the Far East is challenged, redirecting attention to Norway and early Atlantic convoy protection.