What would let a country rebuild steam-age shipping after a solar catastrophe

After a major Carrington event, which nation could rebuild clipper ships and steam power fastest?

Japan is proposed as a plausible early rebuilder because of its industrial knowledge and social cohesion, but recovery depends on keeping its population supplied and the comparison remains uncertain.

The panel's Carrington-event scenario assumes a severe failure of civilian power and electronic infrastructure. Rebuilding clipper ships and steam machinery would depend on preserved technical knowledge, making libraries and other non-digital records important to recovery. Small states could lack resources and redundancy, while larger states could lose time to internal coordination and division. Japan is proposed as a medium-sized country with enough industrial knowledge and social cohesion to restart quickly, provided it could keep its population supplied. This is a speculative comparison, and the discussion does not establish which country actually has the greatest resilience.