How the Royal Navy approved a warship design

How did Britain approve and build a new warship design around 1905?

The First Sea Lord set the requirement, the Third Sea Lord and Director of Naval Construction developed options, the Admiralty Board approved one, and naval or commercial yards completed the detailed design under different levels of oversight.

The First Sea Lord would identify an operational requirement, drawing on commanders' reports or personal experience, and discuss it with the Third Sea Lord. The Third Sea Lord and Director of Naval Construction would develop several options before returning them to the Admiralty Board. Once the Board chose a direction, the detailed design moved to a Royal dockyard or commercial tender. Government yards could refine the ship iteratively with the construction department, while commercial contracts required tighter specifications and closer oversight against cost-cutting. Yard-originated proposals with political backing still passed through the same naval construction review before becoming an approved ship. This relative flexibility is contrasted with American line-item budgeting, under which Congress could specify spending for individual ships or even a naval-yard car.