Stored Courageous turrets show Britain's measured rearmament pace

The 15-inch guns and four turrets removed during the Courageous-class carrier conversions were stored, leaving the main hardware for an eight-gun ship available. Britain therefore had equipment that could support an earlier Vanguard-like capital ship. Armor-production limits remained, but Britain also held armor plate in reserve and could buy material abroad, with Sweden and the Czechs named as options. Those resources support the argument that British rearmament followed a chosen political and economic pace. Greater urgency within the armed forces coexisted with political leaders' desire to limit economic strain. In this interpretation, the unused hardware weakens the description of rearmament as a panicked effort to mobilize every available resource.