Can uncrewed ships preserve surface-combatant production skills?

Can building high-end uncrewed surface vessels preserve the industrial capacity for crewed surface combatants?

Only partly; removing the crew changes the ship so extensively that accommodation skills decline while automation and redundancy requirements grow.

Crew accommodation and services occupy much more of a warship than a cockpit occupies of an aircraft. Removing berths, galleys, medical spaces, water production, plumbing, and stores changes the volume and construction requirements substantially. A proposed arrangement pairs smaller uncrewed vessels with a crewed command ship such as Type 26, carrying personnel who can maintain the other vessels. Months of operation without an onboard crew would otherwise demand extra sensors, generators, and redundant machinery to cover faults that sailors normally repair. Building uncrewed ships could therefore allow some skills needed for crewed surface combatants to deteriorate while creating different demands in automation and redundancy.