A 2020 comparison with China's navy warns against treating a fleet's raw ship count as a complete measure of power. Many small vessels can still be a rational force structure when the missions require presence rather than only tonnage. The age-of-sail analogy is the Royal Navy's preference for numerous frigates and useful brigs. Frigates also gave officers commands in which to develop before taking responsibility for a ship of the line. Their lower mobilisation cost and adequacy for scouting and other common tasks made them valuable even without capital-ship weight.
Notable Point · 12:33-13:39
Fleet totals, small ships, and officer development
A 2020 comparison with China's fleet explains why numerous small ships can cover common naval duties cheaply while providing officers with command experience.