XV Patrick Blackett is a roughly 300-ton trials ship for uncrewed systems and quantum navigation. Its namesake was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist associated with the Royal Navy's operational research during World War II. Damen built the vessel at Gorinchem while already producing similar ships. Adapting another example to naval requirements was therefore a modest addition to an established production line. A British yard would have faced a small one-off order, illustrating how continuous construction affects the economics of specialist support vessels.
Notable Point · 1:55:47-1:56:58
XV Patrick Blackett and the value of serial production
Patrick Blackett's construction at Damen illustrates why an established production line can supply a specialist trials ship that domestic yards would treat as a one-off.