Britain had already won the quantitative naval race

Britain laid down eighteen battleships from 1912 through 1914, against four German ships, and that British total excludes battlecruisers and foreign orders. German naval spending also competed directly with the army, which could restrain any program that began consuming the land force's budget. Britain possessed both greater yard capacity and enough unused capacity that some battleship-building firms still lacked work. The numerical contest was already overwhelmingly in Britain's favor before the war. Competition could continue after 1914, but it would have to move toward individual ship quality rather than matching British totals.