A force limited to two capital ships pushes designers toward maximum individual survivability. If a navy can build five or six instead, it can accept different armour and speed compromises because numbers create more operational options. A six-ship programme would probably be ordered as three pairs spread across successive years. The suggested sequence is two ships, a year's pause, another pair, another pause, and a final pair.
Notable Point · 21:47-22:46
Why six capital ships invite different compromises than two
The number of ships a navy can afford changes the balance between individual protection, speed, and fleet flexibility.