First-mover costs in an uninterrupted capital-ship race

Building super-battleships first would let Britain adapt docks and industry early, but it would also make the Royal Navy pay for the first generation of mistakes before rivals committed themselves.

Question

Who benefits if Britain is the first navy to confront the infrastructure problems of super-battleships, cruisers, and destroyers?

Short answer

Britain gains earlier infrastructure and private knowledge of its own mistakes, while rivals gain the chance to watch those mistakes before building their answers.

Notes

First-mover advantage is a mixed industrial bargain. Britain would learn early how to enlarge docks, yards, and other supporting infrastructure. It would also understand faults in its own new ships that foreign observers might miss. British designers and budgets would pay for the first generation of mistakes, however. Later builders could watch those failures and avoid the most visible ones.