Repair yards, fitting-out yards, and construction slipways

Would damaged warships be repaired in fitting-out yards or construction yards, and could halted capital-ship construction free space for repairs?

Damaged ships belonged in fitting-out or repair facilities, especially dry docks for underwater damage. Capital ships were built on slipways, so an incomplete hull had to be launched before that construction space became available.

Repairing a damaged ship and building a new one demanded different facilities. Underwater damage normally required a dry dock, while most capital ships of the period were assembled on slipways and finished at fitting-out yards. Halting work on an incomplete hull would not automatically create a useful repair berth. If the slipway was urgently needed, the practical course was to launch the hull as soon as its structure could withstand the operation, then complete it elsewhere. Launch weight and bending stresses limited how much equipment could be installed before the hull entered the water.