After the First World War Romania absorbed three monitors from the Austro-Hungarian Navy and bought Italian M-class patrol vessels. It also retained seven 50-ton torpedo boats, transferring three to border patrol with only a machine gun each. Removing small ships leaves their patrol duties to other vessels. If modest patrol craft disappear, expensive primary combatants must absorb secondary and tertiary work instead of concentrating on their intended tasks. Keeping smaller vessels available for routine security duties therefore helps preserve the availability of the major combatants.
Notable Point · 1:50:16-1:51:52
Small patrol craft protect scarce major warships from routine duties
Retaining modest patrol vessels prevents routine security missions from consuming larger, more expensive combatants.