Thomas195 wrote:ljadw wrote:Thomas195 wrote:ljadw wrote:It is not a question of efficiency /inefficiency ,but that it was impossible to use American methods in Europe : before the war there was no need for these methods,and during the war it was impossible and if possible, it would be a wast of time /resources .
Kaiser would have failed and be bankrupt in Britain/Europe .
Exemple :plant A produces 100 cars model 1 a month and plant B 90 cars model 2 a month.
What is the best solution ?
What Kaiser introduced was the methods of modern shipbuilding.
Britain should have adopted and popularized welding, pneumatic and electric tooling much earlier. This would have reduced the building time, as well as helping save weight (well, remember that warship tonnage was limited by WNT/LNT). They would have been able to buildup the escort fleet much faster. The cost problem could be solved by reducing the number of shipyards and increase the size of each yard (rationalization).
Who would decide which shipyards would be shut?
What is "much earlier " ?
Government, of course. But voluntary merges like ICI should be encouraged first, with state grants to replace old yards with new ones. Government direct pressure must be the last resort.
Much earlier, well, welding was quickly adopted by the US and Germany from the 1920s. Also, they could have used welding for weight saving when building battleships (WNT).
Shipping industry was a private industry and government had NOT the power to shut shipyards .