Reading naval priorities through forensic engineering

The closing method traces the characteristics of modern navies back to their institutional founders. Here, forensic engineering means studying design trends and comparing a ship’s advertised mission with the compromises embedded in its construction. Official statements remain evidence, but a mismatch between stated intent and material choices can reveal the mission or institutional priority that actually governed the design. Saint-Bon’s enduring Italian preference for capability and status over numbers provides the episode’s worked example.