The selected divergence has Indomitable and Indefatigable fight Goeben hard enough to force the German battlecruiser ashore or into a neutral Greek harbour. Preserving the damaged ship matters because British observers could then compare where shells struck with what they actually did inside the hull. Jellicoe could use that evidence with support from Beatty and Mediterranean commander Berkeley Milne to demand new production and proof standards. Information in hand by September 1914 would leave roughly twenty-one months before Jutland, longer than the counterfactual's deliberately cautious eighteen-month implementation estimate.
Notable Point · 39:14-40:16
A damaged Goeben could supply proof and time
If Indomitable and Indefatigable damaged Goeben without sinking her, neutral-port inspection could expose British shell failures by September 1914 and leave about twenty-one months for reform.