Beatty, foresight, and the politics of naval preparation

Could a political operator like Admiral Beatty have prevented the problems facing Allied and minor navies?

Beatty had some sound insights, but preparation depended less on one admiral than on the difficult task of winning political and public backing.

Beatty's perceptive statements do not make him a uniformly great First Sea Lord. Other officers also anticipated the coming war and tried to prepare the Royal Navy for it. Foresight alone could not secure ships, bases, and personnel when politicians resisted expenditure. The decisive institutional skill was persuading both the political class and the public to support preparation before the emergency became obvious.