Here's the next part.
Cruisers
4 Swiftsure class were under construction and 6 Neptune class were on order in October 1945.
IOTL the Neptune class was cancelled because they were considered out of date in favour of the Minotaur class, which was also cancelled on cost grounds. The Minotaur was replaced by the Cruiser-Destroyer and after that came the 1960 Cruiser Project. The longer Pacific War doesn't change any of that directly. However, indirectly there is the possibility that some 1960 Cruisers are built because there are no suspended Tiger class cruisers to complete to a new design.
The 4th Switsure, Hawk was cancelled on 15 October 1945 and she was broken up on the slipway. Brown and Moore thought this was surprising because although she hadn't been launched, her boilers and machinery were complete whilst her 6" gun armament was nearly so. The other 3 were suspended, but in 1951 it was decided to complete them to a new design because it was though that they would take 3 years to complete them at a cost of £6 million each, whereas a new cruiser of comparable size and armament would cost about £12 million and would require 5 years to complete. According to Brown and Moore...
"The reconstruction was extensive. All the superstructure, gun supports, minor bulkheads and most services were stripped out. In addition all auxiliary machinery and equipment had to be modified or replaced so that it could operate on an entirely AC electrical system. Reboilering was considered but was ruled out by the Board of Admiralty, as the advantages would not compensate for the delay and expense incurred.
Work didn't resume until 1954 and the ships didn't complete until 1959-61, that is 2 to 4 years late and at an average cost of £14 million a ship. We don't know how long the new ships of comparable size and armament would have taken to build in practice or how much they would have ended up costing, but my guess is that they would have been completed at about the same time as the Tigers and their actual cost would have been less than 2½ times the 1951 estimate.
AFAIK the Royal Navy planned to refit Belfast, Superb and Swiftsure to the same standard as the Tiger class. Belfast was refitted 1956-59, but didn't have her triple 6" Mk 23 turrets replaced by twin Mk 26s, which was probably just as well because she was decommissioned in 1963. Swiftsure started her refit in 1956, but it was abandoned in 1960 - does anyone have any information on how much work was done and how much was spent? Superb wasn't refitted at all because her refit was cancelled, AFAIK as part of the 1957 Defence Review.
Meanwhile the Royal Navies perennial postwar manpower shortage meant Tiger, Lion and Blake had very short service lives in their completed configurations. Blake went into reserve in 1963 after only 2 years service; Lion decommissioned in 1964 after 4 years service; and Tiger went into reserve in 1967 after 8 years service. The postponement of the Escort Cruisers gave them a reprieve because they were to be converted to interim escort cruisers. However, this refit took longer and cost more than was planned, which meant Lion's refit was cancelled.
If the war lasted another year then I think all 4 ships would be sufficiently advanced by late 1946/early 1947 to justify completion before 1950 with their original armament (nine 6" in 3 triple Mk 24 turrets and ten 4" in five twin turrets). I had already written that the main armament for Hawke was almost complete and AFAIK the original armament for Blake, Lion and Tiger had been made and paid for when they were suspended IOTL.
IIRC the Royal Navy's 9-Year Plan of 1948 included a force of 24 cruisers in 1957, which was cut to 18 ships in the Revised Restricted Fleet of 1948. In both plans the 3 suspended Tigers would replace 3 existing ships when they were completed. ITTL the number of cruisers was unchanged in both plans, but as 4 Tigers were completed instead of 3 and they were completed 1947-49 (instead of 1959-61) 4 older ships would be scrapped or at least reduced to reserve earlier than planned IOTL.
IOTL there were 29 cruisers at the end of 1950. This included:
· 14 operational ships (Belfast, Bermuda, Ceylon, Cleopatra, Euryalus, Gambia, Glasgow, Jamaica, Kenya, Liverpool, Mauritius, Phoebe, Superb and Swiftsure);
· 2 on loan to the RNZN (Bellona and Black Prince);
· 1 on harbour service (Newfoundland);
· 3 refitting (Birmingham, Newcastle and Sheffield);
· 6 completed ships the Reserve Fleet (Argonaut, Diadem, Dido, Nigeria, Royalist and Sirius);
· 3 suspended ships in the Reserve Fleet (Blake, Lion and Tiger).
The above doesn't include Cumberland because she was being converted to a trials ship or Devonshire, which IOTL served as cadet training ship 1947-53, when she was replaced by the aircraft carrier Triumph. ITTL I think Devonshire's place would have been taken by a light fleet carrier.
ITTL there would still be 14 operational cruisers, but 4 of them would be Blake, Hawke, Lion and Tiger. I reckon that the Admiralty would want 3 of the 4 displaced ships to be the Dido class Cleopatra, Euryalus and Phoebe (Dido class ships make 5 of the 6 ships in the Reserve Fleet), but that might not be possible because the Tigers need larger crews.
I don't know how much was spent on the 4 Tigers up to their suspension/cancellation at the end of WWII IOTL or how much more it would have cost to complete them in their original configuration. Similarly I don't know how much of the £42 million spent on completing Blake, Lion and Tiger IOTL was spent after the 1951 decision to complete them to a different design, but I suspect it was the "thick end of it." I also suspect that the "thick end" of the £37½ building cost of the aircraft carrier Hermes was spent 1952-59.
Therefore I guesstimate is that the earlier completion of Blake, Hermes, Lion and Tiger ITTL gives the Royal Navy has between £70 and 80 million to spend on new construction or refitting existing warships between 1951 and 1961 ITTL. I think they would probably spend it on modernising its aircraft carriers and cruisers, either by new construction or rebuilding existing ships.
If the Admiralty still decides that its quicker and cheaper to rebuild existing cruisers than ordering new ones then its highly likely that 3 of the ships that are rebuilt are Blake, Lion and Tiger because they are the newest and haven't seen any war service. The refits would last from 1954 to 1961 and cost nearly the same. However, it's unlikely that Blake and Tiger would still be converted to helicopter cruisers because of their age.