Small warships remained essential for escort, communication, privateering, and supply duties, but the largest ships carried the strongest pressure for technological growth and political prestige. In this argument, large hulls have an advantage against numerous small attackers because they have more room for countermeasures. Improving the attacker to overcome each new defense tends to make it larger as well. The torpedo boat's development through the torpedo-boat destroyer to the much larger modern destroyer provides the comparison. Other requirements also shaped that growth, including the anti-submarine and anti-aircraft roles of modern escorts. These pressures coexisted with the continuing need for numerous smaller hulls.
Notable Point · 40:59-44:46
Why large warships retained an adaptation advantage
Large ships absorbed the era's most dramatic innovations because spare space made it easier to add counters against numerous smaller attackers.