Could the Royal Navy accelerate jet-engine development?

Could the Royal Navy have accelerated jet engines enough for service in the early 1940s?

Possibly through earlier investment, but turbines would more likely power experimental boats first because reliable aircraft engines required more maturation.

An independently controlled Fleet Air Arm could have given the Royal Navy a reason to invest earlier in aircraft engines without going through the Air Ministry. Turbine research might then have reached experimental torpedo boats or motor gunboats before aircraft, since a boat offered a simpler initial application. Allied forces could afford to wait for acceptable reliability and engine life, while Germany rushed jets into service to obtain a performance advantage. The Me 262 comparison rests on remembered engine-life figures: roughly 12 hours for an early engine, rising to about 64-72 hours in its later form, against a recalled 172 hours for the Meteor. These are approximate recollections used to explain the maintenance burden of immature engines. Earlier access to a fast aircraft would therefore have brought limited operational value if its engines required replacement after very little flying.