A hypothetical future-fleet team advising the Third Sea Lord in 1937 must estimate the enemy ships and systems likely to appear over the next ten years. Available intelligence and the position after the Second London Naval Conference define the exercise. Expected bankruptcy offers an unsafe basis for British procurement because an opponent could find another way to sustain its programme. The hypothetical alternatives include harsher dictatorship or, in Japan's case, success in battles against the Soviets. Economic weakness remains relevant, but planning must allow for the forecast being wrong.
Chapter · 45:38-47:28
Advising the Third Sea Lord on future fleets in 1937
A 1937 planning exercise asks what enemy ships Britain might face over the next decade, allowing for opponents to sustain programmes despite economic weakness.