The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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The
second factor was the ability to counter-balance the naval force
possessed by potential enemies. For
example, if an enemy possessed cruisers
capable of operating on the ocean trade routes, the British navy
had to possess
cruisers of at least similar strength to protect British sea-borne trade against
them
or if the enemy disposed of submarines, the British navy should have possessed
sufficient
anti-submarine craft. If the enemy was in a position to attack British
sea-borne trade from the air,
anti-aircraft defence had to be provided for it in the
danger zone.

It
continually had to be the aim of the United Kingdom government to keep
the navy at a standard capable of
defending the British sea communications
combined with adequate force to deal with the forces possessed
by potential
enemies. This meant that, as ships were always being built in one or other foreign
navy
and as technological advancement occurred, a steady programme of
replacement of old ships had to take
place year by year.

The
mobility of naval forces needed to be high. They might be called on to
be redeployed from one point of
the world to another. They could operate for
months on end in any area as long as a base was available to
them. Thus it was
essential to set up a system of supply and replenishment in a new sphere
of
operations, in order to enable the naval force to continue working there. It can be
said for
sure, that cruising forces were required in all parts of the world in which
there was an appreciable
density of British sea-borne trade.

Thus,
it could be said that the peace-time distribution of the Royal Navy
was based on the principle that in
every sea was maintained a cruiser squadron,
whose duty on the outbreak of war would be to defend British
sea-borne trade in
its area from sporadic attack. For example, by the mid-1930s there were
“5
cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 minelayer, 5 sloops, 9 destroyers and 17 submarines
on the
China station. There were 3 cruisers and a number of sloops in the Indian
Ocean; 2 cruisers and 4 sloops
on the African station. There were 5 cruisers and

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