Early U-boats cannot replace the decisive surface battle

The British operation does not rely on Russian bases to sustain a long Baltic deployment before the main action. Germany's contemporary U-boats were small and carried only a handful of torpedoes, while later types with larger loads had barely entered service or were still building. Their weapons in 1915 also lacked the maturity associated with later stages of the war. A submarine would probably sink at least one British ship, yet that loss would be minor beside the expected battle-line casualties. Confined water could bring fifteen-inch-gun battleships within only a few thousand yards of one another. At that distance the engagement becomes a knife fight, with ships pointing and firing instead of conducting the long-range gunnery contest usually associated with dreadnought warfare. Either outcome leaves both sides with severe losses.