A global network for keeping ships operational

A navy that can build many battleships but cannot maintain them soon possesses expensive inactive hulls. Britain's network of fixed and floating docks turned repair into a worldwide strategic capability rather than a service confined to home waters. The Admiralty even considered sending a floating dock to the Falkland Islands when constructing a permanent facility there seemed impractical. A dock built in Britain could be towed to a station whose local industry could not create one. The network extended fleet endurance by moving repair capacity toward ships instead of always sending damaged ships home.