The free Norwegian forces could not recreate a national shipbuilding and recruiting base abroad after occupation removed access to the home population and infrastructure. Even commando raids that evacuated people from Norwegian ports could enlarge the armed forces only at the margins. The ships and crews already available therefore set a hard ceiling on what the Royal Norwegian Navy could field. Norway's merchant fleet and merchant seamen supplied the country's greater source of leverage within the Allied coalition.
Notable Point · 6:27-7:18
Norway's merchant fleet became its main wartime leverage
A conquered Norway could add naval crews only through extraordinary recruitment, making its merchant marine the larger contribution to Allied power.