Why was Sandys' whitepaper, with it's massive and unprecedented change of focus, written in the first place? Why weren't the ageing carriers replaced by CVA 01 & 2 as planned? Why didn't the Brits continue with their mid 50s (and USN Cold War) strategy to fight the Soviet sub threat in it's own backyard?
BTW. I spent an hour at my old Uni library looking for my source on the RNs defence/detterence choice of the immediate postwar years but I couldn't find it. The basic thrust was that the RN chose to defend against a Soviet sub offensive in a possible WW3 with frigates etc rather than the other choice of attacking in the sub's home base areas with carriers and amphibs. The upshot being that the RN spent that portion of it's budget on extra frigates rather than extra carriers.
BTW. I spent an hour at my old Uni library looking for my source on the RNs defence/detterence choice of the immediate postwar years but I couldn't find it. The basic thrust was that the RN chose to defend against a Soviet sub offensive in a possible WW3 with frigates etc rather than the other choice of attacking in the sub's home base areas with carriers and amphibs. The upshot being that the RN spent that portion of it's budget on extra frigates rather than extra carriers.
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