Shipyards and lost expertise constrained Plan Z

Plan Z promised ships without first solving fuel supply or rebuilding the industrial base needed to construct them. Some slipways and dry docks were still being completed around the vessels they were supposed to support, while experienced shipbuilders had aged, retired, or moved abroad. Lost institutional memory contributed to small, cumulative design and layout problems that could impair a crew's ability to fight its ship. The doorway example shows how firefighting gear can look perfectly placed on a drawing yet obstruct crew movement when people must assemble and pass through the same space during an emergency. An elegant hull and capable engineering could still produce an inefficient fighting environment when these human factors were overlooked.