Devastation and Courbet reveal diverging construction rhythms

French Dévastation took a little over six years from laying down to commissioning, while Courbet's modifications extended the interval beyond eleven years. Britain's earlier Devastation reached completion in under four years, and even Thunderer's complications produced an interval of about eight years. Both navies used naval dockyards, although the British ships were smaller and arguably less complicated. French designers faced pressure to keep battleships technologically current while the navy continued debating whether it should build them at all. Repeated changes interrupted construction and spread demand for armour and equipment over longer periods, weakening the industrial capacity needed for subsequent work.