An apparent working bargain allowed First Sea Lord Ernle Chatfield to secure 14-inch guns for the King George V class while Henderson gained wide influence over other construction decisions. A destroyer dispute illustrates Henderson's style: he answered Chatfield's concern about larger crews by arguing that larger machinery spaces could reduce routine maintenance hours. Unicorn did not emerge from design logic alone. She also required an official able to defend unconventional requirements inside the Admiralty. Stanley Goodall, as a leading constructor and later Director of Naval Construction, appears as Henderson's important technical partner.
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Henderson's leverage over Royal Navy construction
A reconstruction of Admiralty politics shows why Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson was unusually well placed to push Unicorn into the building programme.