Why common machinery mattered across the Chatham ships

Conflicting machinery listings give the Chatham ships two or four shafts and several different turbine counts. One argument is that some accounts may be confusing individual turbines with turbine sets. Chatham, Southampton, and Dublin shared speed, range, protection, firepower, and crew requirements despite coming from Chatham Dockyard, Vickers at Barrow, and William Beardmore on the Clyde. Royal Navy design standards and the need to train engineers and supply spare parts therefore make a common arrangement the more plausible interpretation, although the source discrepancy remains unresolved.