Diesel's prestige problem against steam

Charles Parsons persistently promoted the steam turbine and carried it into HMS Dreadnought. Steam machinery was already proven, continuously refined, and backed by an unmistakable capital-ship demonstration. Diesel engines instead became associated with boats, slow merchant vessels, and submarines that still looked like uncertain weapons before the First World War. The difference concerned institutional confidence and public status as much as machinery performance. An efficient propulsion technology could transform specialized vessels without immediately dominating prestigious high-speed warship design.