What would the Royal Navy do with older cruisers if it already had forty Counties and twenty Leanders?
Short answerIt would retire some elderly C-class ships but retain many others for a worldwide network of Atlantic, Mediterranean, home, Indian Ocean, Far Eastern, Australian, New Zealand, and Caribbean duties.
NotesCruiser groups allocated across the North and South Atlantic, Mediterranean, Home Fleet, Indian Ocean, Far East, Australia, New Zealand, and Caribbean consume roughly sixty ships before special assignments. Maintenance, training, reserve, and wartime surge requirements then absorb much of the remainder. The exercise shows why British cruiser requirements were driven by simultaneous presence across a global system rather than by a single battle fleet.