Matthew Keeling's counterfactual gives an earlier naval staff a limited effect on invention itself: most technologies would still appear at about the same time. Its value would lie in testing merchant-service innovations sooner and introducing them more consistently across the fleet. His examples include suitable high-speed boilers for the torpedo gunboats of the 1880s and 1890s, and routine targeting-equipment upgrades and crew training instead of the special work assigned to Admiral Scott in 1914. Clarke agrees that technical expertise already existed in the naval constructor's and Third Sea Lord's organizations. The institutional gap was a staff able to connect their work to the wider Navy.
Notable Point · 43:57-44:48
An earlier naval staff and the adoption of existing technology
An integrated naval staff could have improved the adoption of existing technology, including torpedo-gunboat machinery and battleship targeting equipment.