Reginald Henderson and the carrier building programme

As Third Sea Lord, Reginald Henderson could turn naval requirements into a case for construction funding, including presenting HMS Unicorn as a forward aviation support ship. Naval planners estimated the likely war date from foreign rearmament programmes and used those schedules to justify expenditure to the Treasury. Political decisions could bring war before those programmes were complete. The British programme aimed to replace the carrier force and much of the cruiser, destroyer, and battle fleets over roughly a decade. War arriving before it matured forced the Navy to use prepared designs under very different conditions, while urgent escort work delayed carrier construction.