A pause of roughly six months could produce a much longer delay for ships farther back in the building program. Restarting yards concentrated resources on the hulls they could finish quickest, leaving later ships waiting. Wartime lessons also prompted changes to ships under construction, adding work before they could enter service. Prolonged exposure on the slips, deteriorating skills, and bombing damage compounded the disruption. The later Ceylon and Bellona cruisers carried more of the delay than the nominal pause alone suggests.
Notable Point · 15:36-18:32
Restart priorities stretched a six-month pause into longer delays
Ships farthest from completion lost more time as yards concentrated on nearly finished hulls and altered the rest.