Shipbuilding scale, exports and wartime requisition

War often began while British yards were constructing ships for foreign navies. A large domestic construction base helped reduce costs and made those export orders competitive. Existing production also made adding ships easier than establishing an isolated small order from scratch. Five additional ships in a programme of 50 illustrate the practical advantage of continuing an established construction process. Japan's Mogami sales and China's large output supply contemporary comparisons. These examples concern the advantages of industrial scale without examining particular export contracts.