Why Royal Navy theory often appeared in steel

Why did the Royal Navy seem to produce fewer famous theorists than the British Army between 1815 and 1914?

Many naval thinkers expressed their theories through ship design and the Third Sea Lord's machinery, leaving their arguments in steel rather than books.

The premise that the Royal Navy produced fewer theorists between 1815 and 1914 is challenged: the suggested difference is how their ideas were expressed. Army officers tended to publish arguments and seek exercises to demonstrate them. Naval officers working through the Third Sea Lord's organisation could embody ideas in new ships, particularly from the later 1860s. HMS Captain is offered as an example of a design expressing an argument. Studying naval thought therefore involves reading ship designs alongside written theory.