Dreadnought was built as a deterrent gamble. Fisher hoped an overwhelming British lead would persuade other powers to abandon their naval competitions, leaving the Royal Navy free to set its own construction pace. Foreign navies instead waited roughly a year and began ordering dreadnoughts of their own. Fisher's disappointment also concerned the size of the advantage: German advocates could argue that their 11-inch guns approached Britain's 12-inch weapons, while a hypothetical broadside of fifteen 14-inch guns would have been much harder to answer. Deterrence depended on how rivals judged the capability gap. A ship intended to reset the competition became the model every rival felt compelled to copy, turning a British technical advantage into the benchmark for a new naval arms race.
Chapter · 19:10-20:47
A deterrent meant to reset naval competition
Fisher hoped Dreadnought's superiority would discourage competitors, but it instead became a model for their own new battleships.