As Third Sea Lord, Fisher used intelligence about French designs and conversations with Alfred Yarrow to foster British torpedo-boat destroyers. He wanted the plans spread among several yards so that production would not depend on one builder. His parallel effort to adopt water-tube boilers met stronger industrial and parliamentary resistance because too few firms could manufacture them. Eighteen ships consequently received less efficient older boilers, showing how technical preference, supplier capacity, and politics jointly constrained naval procurement.
Chapter · 43:06-45:11
Destroyers, boilers, and the limits of industrial adoption
Fisher's Third Sea Lord period shows both his drive for torpedo-boat destroyers and the political friction that slowed adoption of better boilers.