The Earl of Cork argues that rising cost can restrain battleship size as strongly as harbour limitations and warns against concentrating too many resources in one hull. He treats American and Japanese choices as mutually dependent because neither power wants to concede an advantage in the Pacific. His claim that European navies could think chiefly in Atlantic terms meets a separate objection in the video: the Royal Navy's worldwide imperial commitments required it to plan for other oceans as well. US interests also extended into the Atlantic. A fleet's design requirements could not be confined to one ocean when its obligations spanned several theatres.
Chapter · 2:46:29-2:48:27
Battleship cost, fleet numbers, and global commitments
Battleship costs and fleet numbers constrained size, while the Royal Navy's global commitments challenged Cork's division between Atlantic and Pacific requirements.