Britain was the one power capable of building a ship on Incomparable's scale near the end of the First World War. That capacity did not appear suddenly. The Naval Defence Act of 1889, a merchant-shipping boom, and roughly four decades of sustained yard activity had enlarged the workforce and infrastructure needed for very large hulls. Spectacular design proposals depended on long industrial preparation.
Notable Point · 1:22:38-1:23:23
Decades of shipyard investment behind giant capital ships
Britain's ability to contemplate ships such as Incomparable rested on decades of yard expansion beginning with the Naval Defence Act era.