Administrative delay could preserve ships before rearmament

Could Britain keep potential escort hulls and shipyard workers available by discouraging merchant-ship scrapping in the early 1930s?

Yes, and ordinary administrative delays in the scrapping process could preserve options before a special subsidy programme was even necessary.

The proposed subsidies would preserve possible escort hulls and keep shipyard labour employed. The government had simpler ways to delay scrapping before creating such a scheme. Disposal required substantial paperwork, and administrative handling could keep a ship from reaching the breakers for a long time. That delay preserves options and industrial work, though every retained hull would still need to prove economical and militarily useful.