Add the ability to add shipyards and slips

[oldpop2000]

I know we can improve naval bases and increase the size of the ships we build, but I believe we should add the ability to build or improve both naval shipyards and commercial shipyards. In other words, we should along with increasing the tonnage of the ships that we can build, increase the number of slips and/or shipyards that are available to build, refit, repair or overhaul a ship. This limitation has been and is currently a vital part of naval warfare. Many times, you have ships that are being built, and in wars, ships that need repair and also ships that need overhaul along with improvements which can be accomplished at the same time. During the two major wars in the 20th century, ships would sit in the harbor waiting for a slip to be available before they could be repaired. The Japanese experienced this and so did the British. Every nation has encountered this and it would be a welcomed addition. It should not be difficult to implement. Please consider this suggestion.

[oldpop2000]

I wanted to add some reading suggestions for shipyards and such. Here is one for Japan - www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/japanese-naval-shipbuilding.html

Another is "Anglo-American Shipbuilding in World War II. It actually covers WW1 and WW2. It is expensive but I have a copy as an ebook but it is too large to upload even with compression.

Another is the Battleship Builders: Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships by Ian Johnson and Ian Buxton

The nations would be Germany, Russia, Italy and France. That information is available. I hope this helps the cause.

[oldpop2000]

Here is as complete a list of shipyards in the five major nations

AG Vulcan Stettin Shipyard Stettin, Pommern Germany
Arsenal de Brest Shipyard, Naval Port Brest, Bretagne France
Atlas Werke AG Shipyard Bremen, Weser-Ems Germany
Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard Shipyard Quincy, Massachusetts United States
Bethlehem San Francisco Shipyard Shipyard San Francisco, California United States
Bethlehem San Pedro Shipyard Shipyard San Pedro, California United States
Blohm und Voss Shipyard Hamburg Germany
Boston Navy Yard Shipyard Boston, Massachusetts United States
Bremer Vulkan AG Shipyard Bremen, Weser-Ems Germany
Cantieri Tosi Shipyard Taranto, Apulia Italy
Danziger Werft AG Shipyard Danzig
Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Shipyard Bremen, Weser-Ems Germany
Deutsche Werft Hamburg Shipyard Hamburg Germany
Deutsche Werke Gotenhafen Shipyard Gdynia, Pomorskie Poland
Deutsche Werke Kiel Shipyard Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Electric Boat Company Shipyard Groton, Connecticut United States
Elsflether Werft AG Shipyard Bremen, Weser-Ems Germany
F. Schichau Danzig Shipyard Danzig
F. Schichau Elbing Shipyard Elbing, Danzig-Westpreußen Germany
F. Schichau Königsburg Shipyard Königsburg, Ostpreußen Germany
F. Schichau Pillau Shipyard Pillau, Ostpreußen Germany
Flensburger Schiffbau AG Shipyard Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Shipyard Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Fuzhou Arsenal Shipyard Fuzhou, Fujian China
Grand Harbour Naval Port, Shipyard Valletta Malta
H. C. Stülcken Sohn Shipyard Hamburg Germany
Howaldtswerke Hamburg Shipyard Hamburg Germany
Howaldtswerke Kiel Shipyard Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Jiangnan Arsenal Factory, Shipyard Shanghai China
Kriegsmarinewerft Shipyard Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems Germany
Kure Naval Arsenal Shipyard Kure, Hiroshima Japan
Lindenau Shipyard Memel Lithuania
Lubecker FlenderWerke AG Shipyard Lubeck, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Lubecker Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Shipyard Lubeck, Schleswig-Holstein Germany
Maizuru Naval Arsenal Shipyard Maizuru, Kyoto Japan
Mare Island Navy Yard Shipyard Vallejo, California United States
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Shipyard Nagasaki, Nagasaki Japan
Neptun Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik Gmbh Shipyard Rostock, Mecklenburg Germany
New York Navy Yard Shipyard Brooklyn, New York United States
Newport News Shipbuilding Shipyard Newport News, Virginia United States
Nordseewerke Emden Shipyard Emden, Weser-Ems Germany
Norfolk Navy Yard Shipyard Portsmouth, Virginia United States
OderWerke Shipyard Stettin, Pommern Germany
Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station Airfield, Naval Port, Shipyard Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii
Philadelphia Navy Yard Factory, Shipyard Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States
Puget Sound Navy Yard Shipyard Bremerton, Washington United States
Reiherstieg-Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik Shipyard Hamburg Germany
Rickmers Shipyard Bremerhaven, Weser-Ems Germany
Sasebo Naval Arsenal Shipyard Sasebo, Nagasaki Japan
Schiffbau Gesellschaft Unterweser Gmbh Shipyard Bremerhaven, Weser-Ems Germany
Seebeckwerft Shipyard Bremerhaven, Weser-Ems Germany
Sembawang Bases Airfield, Army Base, Naval Port, Shipyard Sembawang, Singapore Singapore
Tecklenborg Werft Shipyard Bremerhaven Germany
Washington Navy Yard Factory, Shipyard Washington United States
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal Shipyard Yokosuka, Kanagawa Japan

[wlbjork]

The problem you haven't covered is how to classify a slip?

Britain had hundreds of slips available, but the many were not suitable to build anything larger than a destroyer.

This would also start Britain with further advantage in 1900 and 1920 due to the sheer scale of their shipbuilding capacity, now mostly lost due to a lack of size capacity.

Edit:

Cammell Laird (Birkenhead) - 6 slips (longest 1000ft), 6 smaller slips. 5 small graving docks, 1 graving dock 708*80ft, 1 graving dock 861*90ft

John Brown (Glasgow) - 5 building berths 1,000-600ft and 3 600-450ft

Wm. Denny (Dumbarton) - building berths up to 550ft length

Fairfield (Glasgow) - 6 slips up to 1000ft

Harland and Wolff (Belfast) - 19 slips fully equipped to build the largest types of naval and mercantile vessels. 5 graving docks. Additional yard at Glasgow has 7 large slips and graving docks. Repair works at London, Liverpool and Southampton.

Hawthorn Leslie (Hebburn-on-Tyne) - 9 berths up to 700ft length. Drydock 502ft 9in*66ft

Scotts' (Greenock) - Slips for 8 large vessels

Stephen (Glasgow) -  building berths up to 700ft long

Swan Hunter (Wallsend-on-Tyne) - 15 berths up to 1000ft long. 3 graving docks.

Thornycroft (Southampton) - 13 berths up to 400ft [noted as maximum length of vessels produced by shipyard]

Vickers-Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness) - 13 berths, sized 800ft, 750ft, 680ft, two of 620ft, two of 580ft, two of 550ft, 530ft, 500ft, 410ft and 380ft. Floating dock 420*59.5ft, graving dock 500*60*22ft

V-A (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) - 10 berths, sized 1,000ft, 900ft, 800ft, two of 620ft, five 450-550ft.

White (Cowes) - 7 berths up to 400ft.

Yarrow (Glasgow) - 6 berths up to 400ft length


Above information from Jane's Fighting Ships of WW2, so may not be precise as the data is collated from multiple sources and is representative of the data that civilians could access at that time.

To put things into a rough perspective: The last generations of Dreadnoughts were about 650ft long, newer battleships tending to between 750ft and 1000ft long. HMS Hood was about 860ft long overall.

Fleet carriers tended to the 750-800ft range, though the Midway class was a lot closer to 1,000 ft.

Modern cruisers were usually below 700ft - and many a lot shorter than that - though the Des Moines class were slightly longer.

Other warships were usually below 400ft.

The point is, however, that the UK could have in excess of 120 ships under simultaneous construction at the above mentioned yards - plenty more yards aren't listed but also performed naval work during WW2. I'm not sure the budget allows us to build that many ships outside of disposable KEs (AMC types).

[thorthemighty]

Wow, that really puts the ship building capability of Great Britain into perspective.