What are classes of ships and submarines and why are they pigeonholed like that, even accross different countries?
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Ship classes are just a group of ships with similar or the same design. Like the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticonderoga-class_cruiser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticonderoga-class_cruiser) If you what more than one ship with similar capabilities it cost a lot less, is faster, and simpler to make 10 identical ships compared to 10 completely different when they should do the same task.
It is not just for construction, You can have the same training of crew and move them between ships. You can have a single logistic system for all of them instead of needing different spare parts for each.
It is fundamentally no different from anything else produced. Carm manufacturers do not design a completely new car for each customer, the design a car model they make many of, it can have variations and optional parts but it bases on the same fundamental part.
If multiple countries have the same class it is because the purchase them from another country instead of designing their own class or the licensed the design and building it themself.
Ship types are descriptions of ships with similar capabilities like a destroyer, carrier, etc They exist because the task a navy need to do is similar between different navies. There is fundamental physics and technology limitations so the result is a similar design. Speed, range, armament, armor, and cost are all dependent on each other.
Compare that to cars where you can group models from different manufacturers because you have something similar. A pickup truck is a useful design for many situations so people purchase it and car manufacturers build them.
Just like with cars one company has a good idea and creates a new design another will copy that idea. Countries look at what other countries build and copy what they think is a good idea. For naval vessels especially back in the day when combat was shooting cannons on the other ships you had a design that was made to counter other ships’ potential enemies.
Ships back then were general design to handle hits from the caliber of guns they had. Smaller guns and less armor also mean the ship can be faster, so the goal was that you could outrun anything with larger guns
There have also been international treaties like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Naval_Treaty that define classes and the amount of tonnage and even the number of that type that countries was allowed to have. The idea was to stop a repeat of the naval arms race that happen before World War I.
That defines what a capital ship (battleship, battle cruises), light and heavy cruisers, and destroyer are with max displacement, and gun calibers
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