Recent capital-ship yards, including Thames Ironworks, could take this work, and a continuing program might keep those facilities open. That spare capacity rested on roughly 150 years of consistent British investment in shipbuilding infrastructure, including the ability to enlarge facilities quickly when a program required it. Australia could pair these cruisers with HMAS Australia, while Canada and other Dominions might find them easier to finance, crew, and sustain than battleships. Four British ships per year plus two Dominion-funded orders per year could put as many as eighteen Tiger Cubs into production by 1914. Most foreign navies lacked the spare capacity for an immediate answer.
Chapter · 41:18-53:00
British yards and Dominion orders could create a large class
Four British ships per year plus possible Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, or Malayan orders could place as many as eighteen Tiger Cubs in production by 1914.