Fisher separates war fighting from global presence

Fisher's battleship and battlecruiser were tools for different strategic jobs. Dreadnought emphasized revolutionary battle capability in an era when Britain had to make the technological leap first. Invincible could move quickly to a crisis, overmatch lesser forces, threaten commerce raiders, and project a visible image of British power around the empire. Rapid improvements in rival ships required Britain to keep building better designs. Britain generally lacked the industrial lead needed to overwhelm a rival breakthrough as Warrior had answered Gloire, although a brief exception around 1910 is possible. Battlecruisers became the dreadnought image many people outside Britain actually saw because they were the capital ships most likely to appear around the world.