Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 58:53-59:23

British yard capacity for an imperial cruiser program

A large Royal Navy and Commonwealth cruiser order would require money, not a major expansion of British shipyards.

Commonwealth NaviesCruisersMaritime InfrastructureRoyal NavyShipbuilding
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Question

How much infrastructure expansion would a large Royal Navy and Commonwealth cruiser program require?

Short answer

None in principle; Britain had enough cruiser-building yards, provided the ships were funded.

Notes

The proposed program spreads a large cruiser order across the Royal Navy and several Dominion navies. Its scale does not mean Britain lacked the physical capacity to construct it. British yards already had ample capacity to build the ships without a major infrastructure expansion. Paying for the program and placing the orders would be the binding constraints.