Q&A · 4:28:10-4:31:02

If Reginald Henderson survived into wartime

Henderson's survival could protect carrier construction and force a different choice between finishing the King George V class and concentrating resources on the Lions.

Question

What changes if Reginald Henderson does not die in 1939?

Short answer

Carrier work is less likely to pause, while Henderson may trade some King George V construction for the Lions and prevent Vanguard from starting.

Notes

Henderson's survival could make it harder for Churchill to pause carrier and capital-ship construction. Ships already ordered or building would give him a basis for resisting a halt. One possible compromise would transfer workers from unfinished King George V-class ships to the Lions and prevent Vanguard from starting. Carrier construction would face a stronger defense against postponement. A joking reconstruction of Henderson's negotiations also invokes the friendship between his wife and Clementine Churchill as a means of applying personal pressure.