Andrew Cunningham's tenure was the programme's high point, yet he paused the project in 1946 and left it out of the 1947 programme. John Cunningham did not revive it, Bruce Fraser is described as a spent force by this stage, and Rhoderick McGrigor allowed it to continue without production. One version changed scope and was rebuilt on paper, but still went nowhere. By Mountbatten's arrival in April 1955, the ten-year-old proposal was easy to replace with smaller specialist ships, the policy line associated with the later Type 42.
Chapter · 30:18-32:08
How the Neptune programme ran out of momentum
The programme drifted through successive First Sea Lords after its 1946 pause, leaving Mountbatten free to favour smaller specialist ships instead.