Construction volume allowed separate specialized hulls

Britain's naval industry was building enough ships to support different designs without requiring a common hull. The volume of work reduced the cost significance of those differences. A large fleet also allowed individual types to specialize in different tasks. Tiger and Queen Elizabeth could therefore retain distinct hull and protection schemes despite being built at almost the same time. Both carried six-inch secondary guns. British practice blended casemate protection into the upper-belt armour, although the two ships still differed substantially in overall protection. Building far fewer ships creates greater pressure to reuse a common hull.