The likely dispatch of the Town-class 18th Cruiser Squadron to the Far East leaves Britain drawing on the reserve-based 12th Cruiser Squadron and its older 6-inch ships. The fast E class remains a special case because its ships retained enough speed to serve as flagships in James Somerville's later Indian Ocean force. Historical C-class anti-aircraft conversions provide a precedent for replacing obsolete single 6-inch mounts. In this scenario, D-class ships could instead receive 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns suited to aircraft and destroyer threats. Within an estimated five or six months, one or two conversions might return useful capability to service without turning the old hulls into modern front-line cruisers.
Notable Point · 10:34-12:54
Rearming reserve cruisers for the Pacific emergency
With modern Town-class ships sent east, the Home Fleet could reactivate C-, D-, and E-class cruisers and rush selected hulls through 4.5-inch conversions.