A commenter describes an unbuilt 18,000-ton Minotaur proposal from 1956-57 with automatic 6-inch and 3-inch guns, Type 984 radar, and Sea Slug. The comment dismisses Sea Slug and Sea Cat and doubts that the cruiser could have won approval. A competing assessment judges those early guided weapons against contemporary missiles as well as later technology. Funding also depended on the threat and the strength of the operational case. In this assessment, Mountbatten's political caution made him reluctant to promote spending without a defensible justification, though he could secure support for a proposal that persuaded him. A larger Soviet surface threat could therefore have changed the prospects for approval.
Notable Point · 59:38-1:01:44
Minotaur, early guided missiles, and the case for funding
The proposed Minotaur's prospects depended on contemporary missile capabilities, the naval threat, and whether its advocates could justify the expense.