Mechanized block production reduced reliance on hundreds of skilled hand carvers. By 1808, a much smaller workforce operating the machinery could produce about 130,000 pulley blocks a year. Together with rope-making capacity, this industrial base let the Royal Navy fit and sustain a far larger fleet. Production even exceeded naval demand at times, allowing surplus blocks to be sold to British merchant shipping.
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Block-making machinery and fleet-scale supply
Mechanized block production reaches about 130,000 pulley blocks a year by 1808, giving the Royal Navy the rigging supply needed for a much larger fleet.