Floatplane-carrying destroyers offered a useful way to extend Dutch presence and support defence and deterrence in the East Indies. Their individual capability did not make eight hulls sufficient for both colonial and home commitments. Adding the proposed 12 destroyers to the eight actually built would have produced a useful improvement. The suggested requirement is roughly 24 to 32 ships to cover both home waters and the Dutch East Indies.
Notable Point · 34:27-35:05
How many destroyers for home waters and the East Indies?
An estimate of 24 to 32 destroyers illustrates the gap between eight capable ships and the demands of defending two widely separated areas.