This is alternate history, rather than equipment the Royal Navy actually possessed. The scenario turns the Third Sea Lord's discretionary research funds into a consistent small-grants programme and asks where each officeholder would direct the money. Admiral Jackson, Third Sea Lord before Jellicoe, was a radio pioneer with connections to researchers exploring early ideas related to radar. The plausible product is a simple transmitter and receiver that estimates range from the travel time of a reflected radio pulse, rather than a Second World War search set. Discretionary funding might accelerate one line of innovation, but it also depends heavily on the interests and judgment of the official controlling it.
Notable Point · 41:45-45:21
A counterfactual path to an early radar rangefinder
A counterfactual asks whether steady discretionary research funding could have produced a simple radio rangefinder before the First World War.