Ships funded under the Act arrived late and cost more than expected. Construction continued because the Spencer programme ordered more vessels while yards and designs were already in motion. Britain never received the promised seventy ships from the first measure, yet the overlapping orders kept experienced yards busy and produced a steady flow of capable vessels. The original delivery total and the continuity of the wider building programme measure different things.
Notable Point · 6:55-7:46
Delays feed a continuing shipbuilding programme
Cost growth and late deliveries did not halt expansion, because the Spencer programme carried orders into the next construction cycle.