What would the Admiralty do in 1950 with four or five Malta-class carriers and a rapidly growing economy?
Short answerDevelop jets, order nuclear submarines, and use the enlarged fleet to sustain ambitious government policy.
NotesA prosperous Britain retaining four or five Malta-class carriers would give the Admiralty a much larger foundation for Cold War policy. The first technical priorities would be carrier jet aviation and nuclear submarines. The fleet would then support whatever wider commitments ministers chose to sustain. The answer ties naval expansion to both economic recovery and political ambition rather than ship numbers alone.