Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 3:45:17-3:46:23

Postwar yard competition made G3 and N3 hulls unusually affordable

The major expense was enlarging infrastructure, while desperate post-1918 yards bid down the cost of the ships themselves.

British ShipbuildingG3 Class BattlecruisersIndustrial BaseN3 Class BattleshipsNaval ProcurementShipyards
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Question

Were the G3 and N3 programs canceled mainly because the ships themselves cost too much?

Short answer

No; the infrastructure was costly, but competition among underemployed yards made the ships unusually good value.

Notes

Britain emerged from the First World War with many yards capable of capital-ship work and too little peacetime demand to sustain them all. Competition for G3 and N3 contracts therefore pushed prices down. Adjusted for the capability being purchased, the hulls might have been among the Royal Navy's best capital-ship values. The expensive part was upgrading docks and support facilities, showing why a ship program's industrial cost cannot be inferred from the contract price of the ships alone.