Orders to a shipyard distinguish cancellation from an unselected design

Where is the line between a cancelled warship and a design that was considered but not chosen?

A project is cancelled once instructions to build have gone to a yard and are then stopped. An option examined only within the naval organisation remains an unselected design.

Instructions to a shipyard mark a practical commitment to construction. Internal examinations can explore several alternatives without committing the navy to build any of them. Keeping those stages distinct prevents a rejected study from being counted as a cancelled ship.