Capital-ship losses could be replaced more readily than the constant demand for escorts and cruisers. Commanders can often manage with fewer battleships than desired, while patrols, convoys, and screening repeatedly create demand for more smaller ships. Andrew Cunningham's recurring requests for additional cruisers and destroyers illustrate that operational appetite. Old cruisers also made useful depot ships because their less subdivided internal spaces could provide valuable storage and support.
Notable Point · 1:40:31-1:45:31
Why wartime demand for escorts never disappears
War quickly consumes cruiser and destroyer availability, making reserve hulls valuable even when they are no longer first-line combatants.