Hydrogen before all-electric warships

Are navies likely to move to all-electric ships?

Hydrogen fuel-cell ships may be the more likely early step, with slower and mixed adoption rather than an immediate all-electric fleet.

Hydrogen fuel cells may be a more plausible early step than a fleet of battery-only warships. Designers would still have to decide whether a ship refuels, recharges, or combines both systems, which changes its infrastructure and operational rhythm. The transition is unlikely to repeat the speed or universality often associated with the move from sail to steam. Near-term Type 32, Type 83, and American destroyer programmes were therefore unlikely to break cleanly from conventional propulsion.