Loss of skills is a significant issue.
After WW1 there were huge cutbacks in the warship construction industry and when it became necessary to rearm to meet the Nazi threat the manufacturing base was hard pressed to meet the demand. One effect of this was the problems experienced with the 14 inch guns of the KGV class battleships, notably on Prince of Wales and KGV during the Bismarck affair. At one point Prince of Wales had only 3 guns out of 10 in action.
It was loss of skills that resulted in Queen Mary 2 being built in France and the current inability of the UK to build large merchant vessels on a competitive basis. As they say, once it's gone, it's gone! An inability to build our own warships is a terrible indictment of the UK Government.
Colin