Canals behind Royal Navy industrial power

How important was Britain's canal system to Royal Navy development?

It was major industrial and freight infrastructure, though most warships themselves could not use it.

The canal network tied industrial centers together and helped move raw materials and manufactured goods behind the fleet. Carrying freight by water also kept roads and railways from becoming the only routes available to the wartime economy, a benefit that still mattered during the Second World War. Ordinary naval ships could make little direct use of inland canals, although smaller boats and occasional ship-canal projects formed exceptions. British sea power depended on this supporting transport infrastructure even though warships rarely used the canals themselves.