Alex Clarke recalls a proposal to keep light-frigate construction moving by selling relatively young ships as their successors arrived. Type 31 would be followed by Type 32 and further designs, with earlier classes sold to sustain the sequence of orders. Another participant objects that this could leave the Navy without enough ships of any one class to meet its needs. The reply accepts that objection and compares the idea with a British frigate-construction proposal from the 1820s. The account concerns a proposed production and sales cycle, with no claim that the later sequence of designs was completed.
Notable Point · 1:01:59-1:03:03
Selling young frigates to keep shipbuilding continuous
A recalled Type 31 and Type 32 construction cycle exposes a conflict between sustained factory orders and retaining enough ships for the fleet.