Thoughts on Shipyards

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

I enjoyed reading this post.  now for some historical perspectives.  One Caveat.  I am not an expert on shipbuilding.  But I have studied this somewhat for WWI.  During the 19 months of US participation in WWI, the US Government laid down 1000 slipways in multiple shipyards.  They were producing approximately 3 million gross deadweight tons of new ships by Nov 1918.  This laid the foundation for American production in the Interwar period and during world war II.  

The time needed to produce a new design for a new ship is usually done while the old design is still in production.  In the US we produce mini upgrades to existing designs through a process called preplanned product improvement.  The DDG-51 class Arleigh Burke Destroyers went through three block upgrades, the last added an entire helicopter deck and hangar to the Destroyer design, adding over twenty feet IIRC to the total ship length.  

when retooling a yard with multiple slipways, you begin retooling one of the slipways at a time while still manufacturing the older class in the remaining ways.  E.G., if you had four slipways, and assuming it took six months per slipway to retool, then over a two year period you would go from 4 DDG, to 3 old class, in the first six months, to 2 old, 1 new, 1 retooling, to 1 old, 2 new, 1 retooling, to 3 new and one retooling at 18 months. to 4 new at 24 months.  You get the picture.  

Thanks for this detail. I have built this concept into the new shipyard rules, which allow you to start getting ready for the next class while you are still building the existing one. This should result in a similar situation to above where some slipways are building the newer class while others are still working on the old one.

Steve

[kdstubbs]

Steve,
    Glad to be of help


Kevin

[ocie]

THE SHIPYARDS
 


 
-=[ Shipyards Around The World ]=-
This page has a listing of most or all of the known shipyards, shipbuilders, shipbreakers and repair facilities that operate around the world. Many of these yards and businesses are the ones who build and service the modern vessels of today.

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[SteveAlt]

This page has a listing of most or all of the known shipyards, shipbuilders, shipbreakers and repair facilities that operate around the world. Many of these yards and businesses are the ones who build and service the modern vessels of today.

Thanks!

I have added this list to the database and added an auto-rename button to the Manage Shipyards tab. If you select a shipyard and hit auto-rename, one of thse names is selected. You can keep pressing auto-rename until you find one you like.

Steve