Copper sheathing depends on industrial depth

Hull timber at the boundary between air and seawater was especially vulnerable to decay, making protection and maintenance essential. The Royal Navy's rapid adoption of copper sheathing depended on organization and infrastructure that France and Spain, burdened by major land wars, could not match at the same scale. British yards ordered timber continuously into enormous seasoned stockpiles for the whole fleet. Those flammable stores also encouraged early dockyard fire engines and organized firefighting, while permanent labor and prepaid materials made continuous construction and rebuilding economically rational.