The patrol comparison uses about six to eight armed merchant cruisers backed by roughly three regular cruisers. Four additional conversions could allow about five regular cruisers to support the same area. Closer spacing would shorten the distance to an attacked patrol ship and improve the chance of maintaining contact with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. A nearby torpedo-armed cruiser might also reach an engagement while the German ships were occupied with Rawalpindi. Losing a German capital ship at this early stage would change the wider war so substantially that the scenario stops short of assuming that outcome.
Notable Point · 1:27:56-1:30:06
How two more supporting cruisers shorten patrol response
Increasing the supporting cruiser deployment from roughly three to five makes reinforcement and sustained contact more likely.