Factory capacity is only one part of large-warship construction. In this scenario, Congress restricts the U.S. Navy to Jeune Ecole ideas from the 1890s until 1920, concentrating construction on cruisers, torpedo boats, and submarines. The suggested 47-year gap assumes the United States then also does little capital-ship building during the 1920s and resumes around 1936 or 1937. New yards alone would not restore the lost experience. The United States would need to rebuild its engineering expertise and recruit engineers abroad, even if a large industrial expansion remained possible.
Notable Point · 7:16-8:37
The capital-ship expertise lost under Jeune Ecole
Decades without battleship construction would leave the United States short of the engineers, yards, and accumulated experience needed for a rapid 1930s naval expansion.