What keeping a warship in ordinary required

What did it mean for a Royal Navy ship to be paid off or kept in ordinary?

It meant retaining a minimal caretaker complement while a naval dockyard and maintenance staff preserved the ship for possible recommissioning.

A ship in ordinary retained only enough personnel to preserve and manage her until recommissioning brought aboard a full crew. The ship's carpenter commonly headed this caretaker party, reflecting the practical work of keeping an inactive hull sound. Reserve fleets clustered at dockyards such as Devonport or Chatham because the ships needed continuing institutional support rather than an empty anchorage. Recreating such a fleet today would require a suitable base, permanent naval and civilian maintenance teams, and dry-dock access for regular hull inspection. Reserve capacity is a standing investment in people and infrastructure as well as a collection of idle ships.