The exercise is limited to ships that actually entered production rather than every paper proposal. That constraint keeps the counterfactual tied to real yards, industrial capacity, and procurement decisions. It also asks what navies could have crewed, modernized, and deployed these hulls after completion. The ships' plausible fleet consequences matter more than unconstrained design fantasy.
Chapter · 0:52-1:58
How an unbuilt capital ship changes the question
The opening asks how naval history changes when ships already in production are completed rather than cancelled.