British, French, Chinese and American construction photographs introduce the capacity needed to keep ships in service. Maintenance yards limit how many hulls a navy can support as well as how many it can build. Two proposed ways to finance expansion are direct public investment and larger dependable orders to private firms. Both place the cost and risk of more capacity within the procurement decision. Covered assembly of Type 31 and Type 26 provides a concrete example of investment in construction facilities.
Chapter · 1:51:40-1:53:49
Maintenance capacity is part of fleet strength
Construction facilities and maintenance yards jointly constrain the number of ships a fleet can keep usable.