An interesting note from Churchill. On the one hand, he gets bogged down in trivial details, like pestering the Prime Minister about the location of two lost 18” howitzers of 1918 vintage.
On the other hand, he shows a broader perspective of the “big picture.” He suspends construction on all capital ships except the three or four currently under construction (King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, and probably Anson or Howe). Instead, he emphasizes that Britain’s naval yards need to produce smaller sub-chasers. Churchill knows he is in a race with the Germans; will the Germans produce enough U-boats to strangle Britian, or will the British stay ahead of them by producing enough sub chasers to keep the U boats at bay?
It will be a very close-run race through early 1943, when finally during “Black May” the combination of experienced skippers and crews and technological improvements wins the Battle of the Atlantic. This decision by Churchill, this early in the war, probably paid the dividends later that made the difference.