Government economies are blamed for limiting the Invincible and Bellerophon orders to three ships each, compared with an earlier preference for fours and pairs. The comparison with Warrior also questions the deterrent effect of introducing Dreadnought as a single ship. A counterfactual makes Dreadnought, Lord Nelson, Agamemnon and a fourth ship members of the same dreadnought class, delivered in 1905-1906. Other navies would face a complete battle division before possessing an equivalent ship. This is an alternative construction programme, not the historical design or completion sequence of those ships.
Notable Point · 50:26-54:24
A first dreadnought division instead of a single new battleship
A hypothetical four-ship introduction of Dreadnought tests how early numerical strength could change the response to a new battleship design.