Sir Philip Watts designed the Izumo class after Japan asked British industry for ships slightly better than Britain's own standard construction. Japan could afford that extra refinement because it was spread across only two hulls. The Royal Navy faced a different fleet-scale problem: adding the same premium across a dozen ships might reduce the total it could buy. For a worldwide navy, twelve 90-percent solutions could be more useful than ten perfected ships. The additional hulls provided greater availability and reserve depth, showing why warship quality must be judged against the force a navy needs to sustain.
Notable Point · 1:07:06-1:08:40
Why twelve 90-percent ships may beat ten perfect ones
Japan could concentrate extra quality in two cruisers, while the Royal Navy needed enough good ships to sustain worldwide availability and reserves.