Could fleet prestige encourage a West Indies federation?

Could the creation of colonial fleets provide the push needed for a West Indies federation?

It could help if colonies saw a shared fleet as a way to avoid losing status beside better-equipped imperial partners.

Shared naval ambitions could give Caribbean colonies a reason to federate. The proposed motive is anxiety about being treated as a lesser participant while other imperial governments supplied fleets. Canada illustrates the same pressure in the hypothetical 1910 imperial conference: arriving without ships while Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India had capital ships would weaken its standing. Politicians are expected to resist that loss of status, giving a shared fleet an additional political appeal.