The catalogue exposes the limits of wartime conversion schemes. A merchant fleet may look large on paper, but its ships were built for different commercial roles and did not automatically have the performance needed for naval work. Speed is the clearest constraint: the vessel listings challenge the idea that numerous merchantmen could quickly become armed merchant cruisers. Escort carriers required less speed, but the pool of suitable hulls was still limited. Real ship specifications can test broad claims about wartime improvisation.
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Limits on converting merchant ships into armed merchant cruisers and escort carriers
The vessel data expose the limits of assuming that many commercial ships could quickly become armed merchant cruisers or escort carriers.