The closing discussion returns to Corbett's study of the Russo-Japanese War, briefly noting the Dogger Bank incident and the second volume's treatment of blockade. It then poses an unanswered counterfactual after the Battle of Tsushima. Instead of following Corbett's more cautious advice to build new ships without immediately discarding the existing battle fleet, Britain launches a massive replacement program. The proposed opening year produces roughly eight dreadnoughts and four Invincible-class battlecruisers, with British yards potentially sustaining eight to ten capital ships annually. The question tests how procurement speed, fleet obsolescence, and foreign threat perceptions might have intensified the naval arms race before the First World War.
Notable Point · 1:04:52-1:08:07
What if Britain had replaced its battle fleet with dreadnoughts at once?
The closing counterfactual asks how the world would have reacted if Britain had rapidly replaced its pre-dreadnoughts with a much larger first wave of dreadnoughts and Invincible-class battlecruisers.