The earlier completion dates assume construction at its existing pace rather than an emergency acceleration. Funded carrier components were already waiting in warehouses at or near the yards while the hulls remained paused. A historian at a recent conference suggested that bombing destroyed some of this stored material before it could be installed, although the quantity remains uncertain and may have been small. Leaving components idle beside obvious enemy targets added avoidable risk and waste. The counterfactual depends on continuity in the existing program rather than unlimited new capacity.
Notable Point · 29:32-31:01
Paused carrier materials remained exposed beside the yards
The counterfactual assumes no extraordinary acceleration: materials and funding already assigned to carriers could simply have continued through an active building pipeline.