Procurement is about a fleet, not one ship

Nelson and Rodney are formidable anchors of a battle line, but a pair must be treated as irreplaceable assets. The politicians would accept only two ships even though the Royal Navy wanted more. A larger class can accept a different balance between protection, performance, and loss tolerance. Procurement therefore starts with the capability the fleet must generate and works backward to platform size and count. The comparison extends to contemporary forces: larger, more expensive platforms may carry more capability, while smaller platforms provide presence in more places.