Vanguard made sense within the circumstances in which Britain built her. Presenting the choice as a simple battleship-versus-carriers contest misses the projects that actually competed for resources. A more relevant procurement comparison is between Vanguard and proposed cruisers armed with 9.2-inch guns. That framing asks which programmes competed for industrial and financial resources instead of comparing ship types in the abstract.
Notable Point · 50:19-51:34
Why Vanguard's real alternative was not simply more carriers
The familiar Vanguard-versus-carriers argument overlooks proposed 9.2-inch cruisers as the more relevant competing investment.