Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "IJN No.13 - Guide 261 (NB)" video.

Looking through some newspapers and Bureau of Construction and Repair reports from the 20s, I have noticed the degree of cost overrun on the Lexington class carriers. Admiral Moffett was claiming, in 1922. the conversions could be done for $12M each. The Wiki article on them says the conversions were budgeted for $23M. In Feb, 1925, newspapers reported the budget was increased to $34M each. In March of 1927, the budget was increased to $40M each. Newspapers reported their cost after completion at $45M each, though that may include the $6.7M of sunk costs prior to conversion. What was the cause of the cost overruns? I envision a pile of change orders the size of a house as experience was gained with Langley.
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@johnfisher9692 I understand where you are coming from, but the hazard is in sacrificing good enough for better, to the point that nothing ever gets built. At some point, a design needs to be frozen, so it can be built, while the designers keep working to improve on that design for the next generation. The other hazard is, of course, that a design element could be entirely wrongheaded, and the subsequent design heading even farther off in the wrong direction, before the flaw in the logic is discovered. An example of the first case is the first generation carriers. Eagle and Hermes were six year builds. The Lexingtons were seven year builds, and C&R was complaining, in it's annual reports, about how disappointed they were in the slow progress. Akagi and Kaga were also slow builds. In the case of the Lexingtons, I am thinking the delays, and the huge cost overruns, were the result of a massive number of change orders as new ideas were birthed, or experience was gained with Langley. In comparison, Ranger was built in only 3 years, with only a $2M, about 10%, cost overrun. Ranger had one major change order while construction was underway: the addition of an island, which probably accounts for a good share of that $2M overrun. I have no doubt that the original $23M conversion cost for the Lexingtons was intended to be accurate. The estimate given in 1922 for a clean sheet dedicated carrier was $27M. Extrapolating Ranger's cost to 20,000 tons gives a cost of $28M. Lexington's cost ballooning from $23M to $40M was probably unforeseen and the result of starting the ships when the USN was still too far down the learning curve. A few days ago, I asked my local public library to transfer in a copy of Friedman on carriers to see if he can provide conformation of my suspicions that the Lexington's cost overrun, was due to change orders.
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