Naval limitation remained associated with peace, but the Depression also created pressure to replace unemployment support with shipbuilding work. Henderson used that opening quietly when arguing for the number, size, and yard distribution of Town-class cruisers. Orders could be placed in cities most affected by economic conditions, making rearmament an employment measure as well as a fleet program. Fisher would likely amplify the same logic through the press, publicly trapping ministers between treaty observance, industrial recovery, and claims of national danger.
Notable Point · 1:27:28-1:29:23
Town-class cruisers connect rearmament with employment
Henderson quietly placed cruiser work in distressed cities; Fisher could turn the same jobs argument into a national campaign against treaty restraint.