Cruiser construction served as naval procurement and as an answer to unemployment during economic downturns. The Navy could offer politicians visible shipyard jobs without requiring them to describe the programme as socialist relief. Repeated orders also preserved industrial capacity and produced the numerous cruisers needed for worldwide stations. The Royal Navy's global force structure therefore cannot be understood only by comparing capital-ship totals.
Notable Point · 4:26:32-4:27:04
Cruiser orders could double as recession employment policy
Before the treaty era, the Royal Navy answered recessions with cruiser proposals that created shipyard work while expanding global fleet capacity.