Britain's commanding naval-air lead in 1914

Under Commodore Murray Sueter, the Royal Naval Air Service assembled a remarkably broad force before the war. The August 1914 figures are 39 landplanes, 52 seaplanes, six airships, two balloons, and about 727 personnel. Sueter's willingness to secure whatever contracts the service required gave those numbers an unusually strong industrial foundation. Britain had also exercised and tested the equipment instead of merely listing machines on an inventory. Infrastructure and trained people therefore mattered as much as the airframes themselves. The resulting establishment rivaled almost every other navy's aviation strength combined and made Britain the clear prewar leader.