The interwar Royal dockyards did more than build and repair ships. Their public capacity could help keep private contractors honest. A thesis alleging that private yards inflated prices or stretched construction schedules around the opening of the Second World War provides one side of the argument. It is coherent, but delays often originated with armour, steel, bearings, and other suppliers rather than the yards themselves. The watch point introduces the competitive value of a public benchmark and the need to trace procurement failures through the whole industrial chain.
Notable Point · 1:13:42-1:14:59
Royal dockyards gave naval procurement a public benchmark
Public dockyards are presented as a way to test private prices and schedules, while supply-chain evidence complicates claims of yard collusion.