The prewar dreadnought surge rested on a peculiar piece of political arithmetic. The Admiralty asked for six ships, the Treasury offered four, and the government made four additional ships conditional on German construction. Germany laid down enough ships to trigger those extra British orders. Churchill later joked that the Admiralty demanded six, economy required four, and the government compromised on eight.
Notable Point · 5:01-5:51
The eight-dreadnought compromise
The video explains the 'We want eight and we won't wait' slogan and the budget maneuver that delivered eight dreadnoughts.