The ammunition condition behind a Falklands Vanguard

Would a 16-inch Vanguard have diverted too many resources into ammunition before the Falklands War?

Probably not if Britain had preserved a sufficient World War II ammunition stockpile.

A 16-inch Vanguard carries a hidden logistical cost: ammunition. The burden need not have been prohibitive if Britain had retained enough shells from World War II. A surviving hull without usable ammunition would not provide the heavy-gun capability imagined for 1982. The counterfactual therefore becomes a stockpile and sustainment problem as much as a ship-design exercise.