A comment about the Super Hornet's name recalls a much older procurement technique. The Royal Navy could present a major reconstruction to Parliament as a great rebuild rather than an entirely new ship. Some vessels remained on the books for close to a century while undergoing more than one such transformation. After successive rebuilds, very little original structure might remain even though the administrative identity continued. The example shows how naming and accounting can shape what a navy is politically able to acquire.
Notable Point · 3:19:59-3:20:36
Great rebuilds could conceal a nearly new warship
A naming aside explains how the Royal Navy used repeated 'great rebuilds' to preserve a ship's official continuity even when little of the original fabric survived.