The alternate strategy still requires heavy guns at Singapore to deny the chokepoint to enemy capital ships, while Sydney also needs protection as the principal Far East dockyard. That broader demand could keep 15-inch gun production active and encourage similar batteries at Gibraltar and Malta. Greater production would spread fixed costs and make additional installations less expensive. Australia could probably manufacture and maintain the shells even if gun manufacture remained in Britain, giving Sydney its own ammunition stockpile and supporting a wider imperial supply network.
Chapter · 1:41:35-1:45:01
A Sydney strategy expands 15-inch coastal artillery
Protecting both Singapore's chokepoint and Sydney's fleet hub creates continuing demand for 15-inch guns, Australian shell production, and ammunition stockpiles across the Empire.