Destroyers 1929-39 ITTL
1929-36 - The Tonnage Quota Period
Quote from Page 64 of Grand Strategy, Volume I, Rearmament Policy.
'The Army is pared to the bone', the Chief of the Imperial General Staff declared with some justification. And he added bitterly, 'the only reproach that has ever been levelled at us at Geneva is that we have disarmed too much, and that our army is so small that it is incapable of fulfilling our international obligations'.
The CIGS was speaking about the state of the British Army in 1931, he could just as easily have been speaking about the state of the Royal Navy in 1929, which IOTL would become even worse over the next half-decade. Fortunately, the British Government of TTL and the people who elected it weren't as parsimonious as OTL and didn't want Britain to disarm too much either.
The Admiralty wanted 16 flotillas of destroyers including 4 that could be overage and a destroyer became overage 12 years after its date of completion.
The British Commonwealth had 163 destroyers of 171,600 tons at the end of 1929 which at 9 destroyers per flotilla would have been enough to form 18 flotillas (162 ships). Each flotilla had to include a leader which had facilities for the Captain (D) and his staff. It was only possible to form 17 flotillas (153 ships) because 17 of the 163 destroyers were flotilla leaders.
The 17 flotilla leaders belonged to the Marksman, Scott and Shakespeare classes and the 146 "ordinary" destroyers were members of the I, M, R, S, V, W and Experimental A classes. 149 ships (including 16 flotilla leaders) were in the Royal Navy, 12 ships including (one flotilla leader) were in the Royal Australian Navy and 2 were in the Royal Canadian Navy.
It was an ageing force:
- 45 ships of 44,880 tons were completed 1910-17 and were already overage;
- 109 ships of 112,230 were completed 1918-20 which would become overage by the end of 1932;
- 9 ships of 10,890 tons were completed 1921-27 which would become overage between 1933 and 1939. This included the 2 Experimental A class destroyers, that were ordered in the 1924-25 Navy Estimates and completed in 1927.
Under construction or on order were 27 destroyers of the A to C classes ordered in the 1927-28 to 1929-30 Estimates for the Royal Navy, which were due to be completed 1930-32 and 2 A class destroyers ordered by the Canadian Government for the RCN that would be completed in 1931.
Therefore, there would only be 4 flotillas of underage destroyers at the end of 1932, instead of the 12 that the Admiralty wanted.
The Admiralty's 1924 Plan included 135 destroyers to be ordered in the 10 financial years 1926-27 to 1935-36 to be completed 1929-38. That is 90 to be ordered 1926-27 to 1930-31 for completion 1929-33 and 45 ships 1931-32 to 1935-36 for completion 1933-38. Therefore, the number of destroyers ordered to 31st March 1929 was 45 short of what the Admiralty had planned 5 years previously.
IOTL it would get worse before it got better. First the Government cancelled 4 of the destroyers that were on order as a gesture of goodwill for the First London Naval Conference. Then it instructed the British delegation to negotiate for 150,000 tons of destroyers, which became the British Commonwealth's quota in the resulting Treaty. This was enough for 12 flotillas of A to I type destroyers or 75% of the number that the Admiralty wanted.
ITTL the British Government didn't cancel any of the destroyers that were on order and it allowed the British delegation to negotiate for the 200,000 tons of destroyers that the Admiralty wanted. The Americans agreed provided that they could have parity with the British Commonwealth and the Japanese agreed provided that they were allowed 70% of America's quota as follows:
200,000 tons (150,000 tons IOTL) British Commonwealth
200,000 tons (150,000 tons IOTL) United States
140,000 tons (105,500 tons IOTL) Japan
This was similar to the 5:3:3 capital ship and aircraft carrier ratios in the Washington Naval Treaty. That is Japan had 70% of America's destroyer strength instead of 60% of its capital ship and aircraft carrier strength.
The following clauses of the Treaty were the same in both timelines:
- Destroyers were defined as, "Surface vessels of war the standard displacement of which does not exceed 1,850 tons (1,880 metric tons), and with a gun not above 5.1 inch (130 mm) calibre."
- "Vessels which cause the total tonnage in any category to exceed the figures given in the foregoing table shall be disposed of gradually during the period ending on 31 December 1936."
- "In the destroyer category not more than sixteen percent of the allowed total tonnage shall be employed in vessels of over 1,500 tons (1,524 metric tons) standard displacement. Destroyers completed or under construction on 1 April 1930 in excess of this percentage may be retained, but no other destroyers exceeding 1,500 tons (1,524 metric tons) standard displacement shall be constructed or acquired until a reduction to such sixteen percent has been effected."
- "A transfer not exceeding ten percent of the allowed total tonnage of the category or sub-category into which the transfer is to be made shall be permitted between cruisers of sub-category (b) and destroyers."
- "Except as provided in Article 20, the tonnage laid down in any category subject to limitation in accordance with Article 16 shall not exceed the amount necessary to reach the maximum allowed tonnage of the category, or to replace vessels that become "over-age" before 31 December 1936. Nevertheless, replacement tonnage may be laid down for cruisers and submarines that become "over-age" in 1937, 1938 and 1939, and for destroyers that become "over-age" in 1937 and 1938."
- A surface ship displacing 3,000 tons or less became overage 12 years after its date of completion if they had been laid down before 1st January 1921 or 16 years after its date of completion if it had been laid down after 31st December 1920.
IOTL 54 D to I class fleet destroyers (6 flotillas) and 7 Tribal class scouts were ordered in the 1930-31 to 1935-36 Estimates. The D to H classes were completed 1932-36, the I class was completed in 1937 and the Tribals were completed in 1938.
This meant that the RAN and RCN had 72 underage fleet destroyers at the end of 1936 (that is 8 flotillas worth) and another 9 under construction. The 72 underage ships consisted of 2 Experimental A class, 68 A to H class and the 2 Canadian destroyers.
ITTL the Government provided the Admiralty with enough money to order 108 D to I class fleet destroyers in the 1930-31 to 1935-36 Estimates and the Canadian Government ordered a pair of F class destroyers in 1932. The D to H classes were completed 1932-36 and the I class was completed in 1937. ITTL each class consisted of 16 "standard" destroyers and 2 flotilla leaders instead of the 8 "standard" ships and one leader of OTL.
The "16% rule" allowed the British Commonwealth to have 13 destroyers of 1,850 tons IOTL and 17 destroyers of that size ITTL. However, the Admiralty didn't order any Tribal class destroyers ITTL because it didn't have a requirement any destroyers of the scout type because it wasn't short of cruisers to scout for the fleet.
IOTL the British Commonwealth had 123 underage destroyers of 169,659 tons at the end of 1936. That is 2 Experimental A class, 27 A to C class, 90 D to H class, 2 Canadian A class and 2 Canadian F class completed 1927-36. Furthermore, 18 I class destroyers of 25,008 tons would be completed in 1937, which would increase the number of underage destroyers to 141 of 194,667 tons by the end of 1937.
Therefore, the British Commonwealth had 13½ flotillas worth of underage destroyers at the end of 1936 and would have 15½ flotillas worth at the end of 1937.
The plan was to have 23 overage destroyers of 26,990 tons (2½ flotillas) at the end of at the end of 1936 to make a grand total of 146 destroyers of 196,649 tons. The old destroyers would consist of 3 Scott class leaders and 20 V&W class which with the 4 RCN destroyers would form 3 flotillas.
The 18 I class ships due to be completed in 1937 would replace 2 Scott class leaders and 16 V&W class. There would then be 146 destroyers of 200,667 tons, which was 667 tons more than the TTL version of the First London Naval Treaty allowed. There would be 15 flotillas of underage A to I class destroyers plus one flotilla formed from the 4 Canadian destroyers and the surviving overage destroyers of the Scott and V&W classes.
The 146 destroyers would consist of 131 RN, 9 RAN and 4 RCN ships.
The RAN had 12 destroyers at the end of 1929 in both timelines. That is the Marksman class leader Anzac, 5 S class and 6 I class completed 1910-19. IOTL they were discarded 1930-37 and replaced by the Scott class leader Stuart and 4 V&W class destroyers completed 1917 that were transferred from the Royal Navy in October 1933. ITTL the 12 existing ships were still discarded 1930-37, but they were replaced by 9 brand new E class destroyers in 1934.
1936-39 - The Rearmament Period
As already explained the British Commonwealth was to have had 146 destroyers (16 flotillas worth) at the end of 1936 consisting of 123 underage ships completed 1927-36 and 23 overage ships completed before 1925.
However, the plan changed in 1935 because of Germany's renunciation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Abyssinian crisis. This led to the Cabinet giving the Admiralty permission to retain the ships that had to be scrapped to make way for the 18 G class destroyers that would be completed in 1935 until the treaty that would replace the First London Naval Treaty was negotiated.
The Second London Naval Conference began on 9th December 1935. The resulting Second London Naval Treaty signed on 25th March 1936 abolished the tonnage quotas. This allowed the Admiralty to keep 4 leaders of the Scott and Shakespeare classes and 36 V&W class destroyers (4½ flotillas worth) that aught to have been scrapped by the end of 1936.
As a result the British Commonwealth had 186 destroyers of 242,229 tons at the end of 1936 which was enough to form 20½ flotillas. There were 123 underage destroyers of 169,659 tons (13½ flotillas worth) that had been completed 1927-36 and 63 overage destroyers of 72,570 tons (7 flotillas worth) completed 1917-24.
In both timelines the Second London Naval Treaty said that a surface vessel displacing less than 3,000 tons became overage 12 years after its date of completion if it was laid down before 1st January 1921 and 16 years if it was laid down after 31st December 1920. However, this was meaningless without a tonnage quota.
The events of 1935 resulted in the Admiralty having to plan for a simultaneous war against Japan and Germany instead of its previous plan for a war against Japan alone.
IOTL this resulted in the destroyer requirement being raised from 16 flotillas (including 4 that could be overage) to 22 flotillas (including 6 that could be overage). The 16 underage flotillas were to work with the fleet and the overage flotillas were for trade protection and local defence.
ITTL the requirement was increased to 24 flotillas by the end of 1942. That is 16 flotillas to work with the fleet and 8 for local defence and trade protection. All of the destroyers would be underage and the Admiralty was also allowed to reduce the service life of a destroyer from 16 years to 12 years.
There would be 141 underage destroyers at the end of 1937 consisting of the 2 Experimental A class, 135 A to I class, 2 Canadian A class and 2 Canadian F class ships. This was enough to form 15 full-strength flotillas so there was a deficiency of 9 flotillas.
Therefore, the Cabinet approved the construction of 10 flotillas at the rate of 2 per year in the 5 financial years 1936-37 to 1940-41 which would be completed 1938-42. The tenth flotilla would replace the flotilla of 9 A class destroyers which would become overage in 1942.
The new flotillas would have 8 ships rather than 9. This was for two reasons. The first reason was because they would be built to a new design that was large enough to include the facilities for the Captain (D) and his staff, so there was no need to build a flotilla leader. The second reason was that exercises had shown that destroyers were more effective if they operated in smaller groups of 4 ships.
There would be 210 destroyers at the end of 1942. That is 126 B to I class (14 flotillas) completed 1931-38, 80 Javelin class (10 flotillas) completed 1938-42, 2 Canadian A class and 2 Canadian F class completed 1930-42.
The British armaments industry was larger at the beginning of the Rearmament period ITTL and as a result it created fewer economic problems. Therefore, there was no need to delete 16 destroyers from the 1938-39 Estimates. Therefore, 64 destroyers were ordered in the 4 financial years 1936-37 to 1939-40 instead of the 49 that were ordered IOTL. That is 64 Javelin class instead of the 9 Tribal class, 16 Lightning class and 24 Javelin class destroyers that were ordered IOTL.
It has already been explained that the Tribal class were intended to be scouts rather than fleet destroyers because there was a shortage of cruisers to scout for the fleet and that there was no need for them ITTL because there wasn't a shortage of scout cruisers.
What has yet to be explained that the Lightning class was built because of a shortage of trade protection cruisers, which is why they were armed with six 4.7" 50 calibre guns in turrets firing 62lb shells instead of the six 4.7" 45 calibre guns in shields firing 50lb shells that armed the Javelin class. There was no shortage of trade protection cruisers ITTL either so there was no need to build the Lightning class.
Costs
According to National Archives document CAB.024.272 (0003) Defence Expenditure in Future Years, Dated October 1937 the costs of the A, H, Javelin and Tribal class destroyers were:
£335,000 A class
£380,000 H class
£575,000 Javelin class
£595,000 Tribal class
Unfortunately, I haven't any costs for the Lightning class. They would have been more expensive than the Javelin class because they were larger, more heavily armed and AIUI the N class were built as Javelins rather than Lightnings because the latter was too expensive.
The 135 destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy in the financial years 1924-25 to 1939-40 cost £61,640,000 and the 201 ordered over that period ITTL cost £87,960,000, which is an increase of 66 ships costing £26,320,000 for an average increase of £1,645,000 a year over 16 financial years. However, the changes took place in the 10 financial years 1929-30 to 1938-39.
ITTL 99 destroyers costing £37,620,000 were ordered in the 6 financial years 1929-30 to 1934-35 instead of 50 costing £19,000,0000 ITTL, which was an increase of 49 ships costing £18,620,000 for an average increase of £3,103,333 a year.
However, the 34 destroyers ordered in the 2 financial years 1935-36 and 1936-37 ITTL cost less than the 33 ships ordered ITTL. That's because 18 I class and 16 Javelin class costing £16,040,000 were ordered instead of 9 I class, 16 Tribal class and 8 Javelin class costing £17,540,000. The difference was a decrease of £1.5 million over 2 years.
The 16 Javelin class ordered in the 1938-39 Estimates of TTL cost £9.2 million, which was £9.2 million more than OTL because the 16 ships planned for that financial year weren't ordered. However, that was because of the demand pull inflation and balance of payments deficit that Rearmament created IOTL. Therefore, HM Treasury should have no problem finding the money ITTL.
I have had to cost the 16 Lightnings built IOTL at £575,000 per ship (that is the same as a Javelin class destroyer) because I don't know how what the cost of a Lightning was. The 32 destroyers (16 Javelins and 16 Lignthnings) ordered in the 1937-38 and 1939-40 Estimates IOTL would have been more expensive that the cost more than the 32 Javelins ordered ITTL.
To summarise, there is an increase in expenditure of £18,620,000 between 1st April 1929 and ending on 31st March 1935, a decrease of £1.5 million between 1st April 1935 and 31st March 1937, an increase of £9.2 million in the 1938-39 financial year and unknown decreases in the financial years 1937-38 and 1939-40.
These figures don't include the £670,000 that the Canadian Government paid for the 2 A class that it purchased for the RCN in both timelines or the £760,000 that the Canadian Government paid for the 2 F class destroyers ordered in 1932 ITTL.
The Situation in September 1939 IOTL
The British Commonwealth had 192 destroyers of 256,752 tons at the outbreak of World War II and another 24 of 44,240 tons under construction or on order. 180 belonged to the RN, 5 were in the RAN and 7 were in the RCN.
79 destroyers of 88,515 tons were overage because they had been laid down before 1st January 1921 and completed 1917-25. These consisted of 12 R&S class, 58 V&W class and 9 Scott & Shakespeare class leaders. 10 V&W class destroyers had been given W-AIR modernisations and another 5 would be converted during the war. The Shakespeare class leader Wallace had been refitted with 2 twin 4", one quadruple 2pdr pompom and 2 quadruple 0.5" mountings. The Scott class leader Stuart and 4 V&W class were serving with the RAN.
The remaining 113 destroyers of 168,237 tons were underage because they had been laid down after 31st January 1920 and completed 1927-39. They consisted of 2 Experimental A class, 79 ships of the A to I classes, 16 Tribal class and 16 Javelin class. 7 ships of the A to I type were in service with the RCN.
The 24 destroyers under construction or on order for the Royal Navy consisted of 8 Javelin and 16 Lighting class. They would be completed between January 1940 and April 1943. The Australian Government ordered 6 Tribal class destroyers from Australian yards in 1939, but only 3 of them would be built and completed 1942-45. The Canadian Government would order 4 Tribal class destroyers from British yards in 1940 which would be completed 1942-43 and 4 Tribals from Canadian yards in 1942 that would be completed 1945-48.
The 79 overage destroyers were just sufficient for 9 flotillas of 9 ships and the 113 underage destroyers were sufficient for 13 flotillas of 8 or 9 ships. Therefore, there were enough destroyers to form the 22 flotillas that were required, but there were 13 underage and 9 overage flotillas instead of the 16 underage and 6 overage that were required.
The Situation in September ITTL
The British Commonwealth had 236 destroyers of 321,317 tons at the outbreak of World War II and another 32 of 54,080 tons under construction. 214 belonged to the RN, 9 were in the RN and 13 were in the RCN. The number of RCN destroyers had increased from 4 at the end of 1936 to 13 in September 1939 because one of the 2 C class flotillas built ITTL was transferred to the RCN 1937-39.
63 destroyers of 72,570 tons were overage because they had been laid down before 1st January 1921 and completed 1917-24. They consisted of 9 Scott class leaders and 56 V&W class. 18 of the 63 overage destroyers had been scheduled to be scrapped between the Munich Crisis and September 1939 but they had been given a reprieve because a war with Germany was thought to be imminent. None of the overage destroyers had been rearmed because they were due to be scrapped by 1942.
The remaining 173 destroyers of 248,747 tons were underage because they had been laid down after 31st January 1920 and completed 1927-39. They consisted of 2 Experimental A class, 135 A to I class, 32 Javelin class, 2 Canadian A class and 2 Canadian F class.
The 32 destroyers that were under construction or order were all Javelin class ships. They would be completed between January 1940 and the end of 1941.
The 236 destroyers were formed into the equivalent 27 flotillas (24½ RN, one RAN and 1½ RCN) with 8 or 9 ships per flotilla. The ratio of underage to overage flotillas was 20:7 which was a great improvement on the 13:9 ratio of OTL.
Mobilisation
32 fleet destroyers of the Javelin class were under construction or on order ITTL instead of the 8 Javelins and 16 Lightnings that were on order IOTL. The TTL ships were completed by the end of 1941, but the OTL ships weren't completed until April 1943. The improvement over OTL was because the UK's warship building capacity was greater ITTL and because fewer warships of other types were being built. For example 23 cruisers were under construction or on order in September 1939 IOTL and another 6 were ordered in the War Emergency Programme, but there were only 20 under construction or on order ITTL and no ships were ordered in the War Emergency Programme.
The 16 Javelin class planned to be ordered ITTL's 1939-40 Estimates were ordered in the War Emergency programme instead of the 16 O and P class ships built IOTL. The number of Q to Z, C, Weapon, Battle, G and Daring class destroyers built ITTL was exactly the same IOTL and there were no qualitative improvements.
The Australian and Canadian Governments couldn't order any Tribal class destroyers ITTL because it didn't exist. The Australians had no immediate need for more destroyers ITTL because they had 9 E class destroyers that were transferred to the RAN in 1934 instead of the flotilla leader Stuart and 4 V&W class destroyers transferred to the RAN in 1933 IOTL. Furthermore, the Royal Navy transferred 3 of the Javelin class destroyers built in the 1938-39 Estimates to the RAN ITTL and they took the place of the 3 Tribal class destroyers that were built in Australia IOTL. The Canadian Government ordered 8 Javelin class destroyers instead of the 8 Tribal class destroyers that it ordered IOTL and the RCN might receive some of the 16 Javelin class destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1938-39 Estimates.