Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 58:15-1:00:13

When larger capital-ship classes become more expensive

Batch orders cut unit cost only when they stay near sustainable yard capacity; overloading German yards would delay ships until they were obsolete.

Anglo German Naval Arms RaceCapital ShipsEconomies Of ScaleNaval Industrial BaseShipyard Capacity
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Question

How much cheaper would capital ships become if Germany ordered classes of eight or ten before the First World War?

Short answer

Not necessarily cheaper; Germany would overload its yards, stagger delivery, and risk receiving obsolete ships while Britain matched the order more quickly.

Notes

Ordering a larger class can spread design and production costs, but the saving depends on industrial capacity. Germany could not lay down eight or ten capital ships simultaneously, so a nominal batch would be staggered across years. Late ships might enter service behind newer British designs, while Britain could answer the order with its larger yard base. The most efficient policy is to order slightly below sustainable capacity while merchant and foreign work keep the industrial system alive. Ordering too little wastes capacity, but ordering far too much raises cost and delay instead of producing simple economies of scale.