Royal Dockyards gave the government its own estimate of the cost of building or refitting a warship, which it could compare with commercial bids. They also retained skilled people and facilities through gaps in orders. A yard under government ownership could concentrate on an urgent ship without negotiating a private firm's lost profit on other work. HMS Dreadnought illustrates the advantage: Portsmouth could clear its schedule, gather materials in advance, and give the new battleship priority. A continuing cadre of government shipbuilders also helped assess private contractors as commercial yards changed hands.
Notable Point · 47:01-55:48
Why Royal Dockyards constrained private shipbuilding costs
State-owned dockyards gave government a cost benchmark, retained surge capacity, and allowed priority construction without paying a private yard's profit and disruption costs.